While generally praised by traditional reviewers, Vicky Smith wrote about problems with the book, in "Smiling Slaves in a Post-A Fine Dessert World"[REF] in Kirkus Reviews on January 4, 2016.
This was followed by more critiques, including for the illustrations of the characters as "smiling slaves" and thereby whitewashing the history of slavery and presenting an "offensively sanitized version" of slavery to children [REF].