The Fairytale Cake

by Mark Sperring, Jonathan Langley (Illustrator)

Maybe it wasn't your mom who baked your amazing birthday cake after all. Maybe it was created by a delicious cast of characters from your favorite nursery rhymes!

"We make a cake / We bake a cake / And send it on its way!"
Beloved characters from classic nursery rhymes --- everyone from Humpty Dumpty to Little Bo Peep to Old King Cole --- collaborate to bake the most perfect, towering, delicious cake . . . and roll it along to its special recipient --- the birthday boy or girl!
Mark Sperring's spare but sweet text combined with Jonathan Langley's bright, timeless artwork make for a fun, read-aloud book that allows readers to pick out their favorite nursery rhyme characters in the illustrations. Ideal for birthdays . . . or any occasion!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Food, Fairy Tales

32 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2005

About the author

ترجمه‌ی مانلی آیگانی

Reviews

[Aolund · Rating 1 out of 5]

The basic premise and the story are fine, not incredible but not bad either. It's the way in which brown people are included that really sours this one for me...like, in the first few pages POCs are repeatedly depicted in service positions (musicians, a peasant sweeping in a ragged dress...). Then, when POCs start to show up in slightly better positions, they are nonetheless always depicted as solitary in a sea of white people, never with families around them or a sense of actually rich diverse communities. And never connected to any particular fairy tale/nursery rhyme either, which is odd because that's the whole premise.

[EJLJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun for kids to try to figure out which characters are which. It's nice that they're all explained in the inside of the front/back of the book. The story itself is not super interesting, but kids don't mind.

[Colorado Buck · Rating 4 out of 5]

very cool how all the fairytale and mother goose characters are all in on the cake. fun to find them and point them out in the pages.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute birthday book, especially for kids that can identify nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters.

[Emmaline MacBeath · Rating 3 out of 5]

SUMMARY: Dozens of fairytale characters have gotten together to make a birthday cake for someone special. On the journey to the birthday boy's house, you are invited to spy and name the many characters.

ILLUSTRATIONS: The illustrations are very colorful and full of details. They are too busy for the age group this book was written for. There are dozens of people on a page making it more difficult to find and name the characters.

THE GOOD: This story invites you to learn fairytale characters and to find them among the pages. This is fun. This book can be a springboard for other fairytale stories. There are some nice prepositions for the little ones to learn such as up the hill, down the hill, and across the bridge. Because there are so many characters, this book can be looked at over and over to spy the characters.
THE NOT AS GOOD: There is really no storyline here other than a cake is made and then brought to the birthday boy.

AGE RECOMMENDATION: Advertised for ages 3-5

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute book concept. However, for younger kids who aren't familiar with fairytale characters, the book can be pretty boring. My Storytime kids knew only a few fairytale characters and therefore didn't enjoy the book to its fullest

[Nanci · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice book for Happy Birthday, and recognition of fairy tale characters.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

birthday cake is hand delivered by fairy tale characters. very detailed pictures.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Happy Birthday from The House that Jack Built to Polly Put the Kettle on and Old Mother Hubbard.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 2.5 year old liked this mostly because she likes cake. And older kid might have fun picking out the rhymes.

[Ruth Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple story line but the illustrations make the book! Kids will love identifying the nursery rhyme and storybook characters.

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our whole family loved this book. The words are simple, but my 2 year old LOVES to talk about the birthday cake and find parts of the fairytales. I couldn't even locate them all. Fun book.

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is definitely geared towards younger children. The words are short and simple, but the pictures are detailed.This could be a good, fun Ispy book.

[Janey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story or words could be better, but they weren't annoying. The pictures are adorable and really fun. As a little girl, I would have stared at this book for hours.

[Nanci Booher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book to read with a small group of children. Pages are kind of busy. You can ask alot of question with this book.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute, very British, short story, with a birthday theme, suitable for a pre-school story time. The illustrator packs in lots of fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters along the way.

[Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's just not a lot going on with this story. It's a little interactive, but there's not a whole lot to do. The kids kept yelling "now do we eat it?".

[The Brothers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slew of fairy tale characters make a birthday cake.

The illustrations are where it's at. Try to spot all the fairy tales used.