Amanda Commander - The Great Orange Bake-Off

By Coral Vass and illustrated by Heidi Cooper Smith

‘This is a race-along read that has strong themes of both competition and friendship with plenty of formatting interest that makes it an ideal stepping stone to more complex reads, as well as offering some life lessons about co-operation and compromise. Did Ms Tran deliberately choose teams of two so the friendship cliques would be split? How would they feel if they were teamed with someone they didn’t like? How might they make the combination work? Are competitions always all about winning? What do you think Coral Vass wanted you to learn from this story? What would you make if you had to bake something that included an orange? There are several others in the series, which would be welcomed by those newly independent readers who are expanding their friendship horizons beyond family, just as Amanda is’ - The Bottom Shelf