Love Canberra and cake? This book combines both for a sweet cause
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For anyone obsessed with the reality baking show Is It Cake? a new local book is taking the concept and adding a child friendly Canberra twist.
Cakeberra, an ABC children’s picture book released by the Perinatal Wellbeing Centre, is celebrating Canberra’s most loved landmarks by pairing them with beautifully illustrated cakes.
Inviting young readers to explore Australia’s capital city while learning the alphabet (while parents drool over the cakes), the concept for the book was born from the Perinatal Wellbeing Centre’s 2017 Canberra themed Cake Off appeal.
Following the ethos of the original Cake Off fundraiser, every copy of Cakeberra sold directly supports the Perinatal Wellbeing Centre’s work. And with demand for their services increasing, Yvonne Luxford of the Perinatal Wellbeing Centre says that the money raised will allow them to better support local parents in need.
“Demand has consistently gone up, with client numbers and group attendance increasing year after year. 2024 to 2025 was a record-breaking year for us in terms of parents supported, new enquiries, group sessions, and much more,” she explains.
“This shows that there is a great need in Canberra for effective perinatal mental health support systems and services – a need that we are doing everything we can to meet.”
Available in both softcover and hardcover editions (priced at $20 and $27 respectively), Cakeberra has been in the works since 2021. Using the 2017 Canberra themed Cake Off appeal as inspiration, many of the cakes contributed during that fundraiser are immortalised in the book’s pages.
Selecting cakes for “representational and pragmatic reasons” – presenting a wide range of landmarks and cake designs – each page is dedicated to a letter of the alphabet.
Featuring landmarks including Parliament House, Cotter Dam, the Green Shed, Mount Stromlo, the War Memorial, Black Mountain Tower, and more, Yvonne says that they wanted the book to translate the feeling of “bringing the local community together and showing off a slice of everything that makes Canberra unique.”
“As a proudly local non-profit, we wanted to translate this feeling onto the page and bring our love of Canberra – and cake – to parents and children everywhere.”
“As for the focus on the alphabet, our service supports parents with children of two years or younger, so an ABC storybook felt like the perfect concept… We hope that Cakeberra provides families with a learning tool for young children that helps them learn about both the alphabet and Canberra’s unique offerings.”
Aiming to sell 5,000 copies, the Perinatal Wellbeing Centre also hopes that the book will help to raise awareness about the importance of providing care and support to expectant and new parents.
Providing a wide range of mental health services – from phone consultations to support groups and more – every cent they receive from Cakeberra will go into these services, allowing them to run more groups, provide even more free adjunct childcare, and further expand their ability to support the Canberran community.
Available to be purchased through the Perinatal Wellbeing Centre’s website, from the Centre’s Weston Creek office, and with plans underway to place the book in several selected local bookstores and iconic locations, Yvonne says that while Cakeberra might be designed with children in mind, it’s a sweet book for anyone who loves the capital.
“It’s not just about reading a book; it’s about helping families connect to Canberra’s culture, whether they’re locals or just have a love for our capital.”
For more information or to buy a copy, visit perinatalwellbeingcentre.org.au/cakeberra
