Mud Is Cake

by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Richly colored, fanciful illustrations imbue Ryan’s (Mice and Beans, 2001, etc.) simple yet imaginative verse with all of the humor, wonder, and faith necessary for a phenomenal daydream in which anything is possible. Even before a word of the story appears, the brown-ink, bamboo-reed pen and watercolor illustrations on the title and half-title pages set the scene for the upcoming adventures. A woman reads to children in a big chair, surrounded by stuffed animals and a real dog; the children dig in the mud outside the house, with the dog licking at the puddle and the stuffed animals arrayed on the stoop. Once the verse begins, children, dog, and now life-sized stuffed animals are off on fantastical escapades featuring such transformed everyday things as a porch-turned-stage, a stick-turned-wand, a tree-turned-spaceship, tub-turned-boat, and the best and truest of a book-turned-door. The litany of favorite childhood imaginings, finishing with the exhilarating idea that “You can be most anything in dreams, or wide-awake. If you agree that juice is tea . . . if you believe that mud is cake,” combined with McPhail’s (Edward in the Jungle, p. 340, etc.) enthralling illustrations gives this work the makings of a future classic. (Picture book. 2-5

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Storytime, Fantasy

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2002

About the author

Pam Muñoz Ryan is the author of the New York Times Best Seller, ECHO, a 2016 Newbery Honor Book, and winner of the Kirkus Prize. She has written over forty books for young people—picture books, early readers, and middle grade and young adult novels. She the author recipient of the NEA's Human and Civil Rights Award, the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, the Willa Cather Award, the Pura Belpré medal, the PEN USA award, and many others. Her novels include Esperanza Rising, Riding Freedom, Becoming Naomi León, Paint the Wind, The Dreamer, and Echo. She was born and raised in Bakersfield, California, holds a bachelor's and master's degree from San Diego State University and lives in north San Diego county with her family.

Reviews

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children are so imaginative, and this rhyming book shows the kinds of things children can imagine from their play, like how mud can become cake. I definitely remember making mud pies with my sister in the backyard! This is a charming book.

I actually used it as part of a mud-themed bilingual story time program.

[The Book Maven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Next time there's a rainy day keeping your child bored and indoors, whip out this book and read it, and then enact some of the imaginings within! It's a fantastic celebration of childrens' imaginations and the grand things that they create with everyday objects--and it will be a sweet reminder of your own childhood.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rhyming book about playing pretend. The art has hints of Maurice Sendak.

[Dest · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's no plot to this, just the same rhyming pattern on each page, e.g. "Tub is boat if you sing out that you've set sail again." It celebrates imagination and has classic illustrations. The only thing I didn't get was "Bear is friend if you believe that bears can see and hear." Um, I think live bears can in fact see and hear--and believing that (as most sane people do) does not make them your friends. I guess she meant Teddy Bear, but still. The illustration is of a pretty realistic-looking bear.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cute book reminds me of the many games and items my sisters and I use our imagination for when we were children. I think it would be a fun activity for students to make their own verse, about something they have used their imagination for, to go with the book. A sample verse that I could use from my childhood:
Sewer is a cauldron
When you toss in and stir
Leaves, berries, sticks, and rocks

This book has great vocabulary words to explain using picture clues and the context they are found in.

[Emilye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of people's imagination. All the characters pretend what they have is actually better than what they have by using their imagination. This is a great book to get students engaged and really wanting to hear what the story says. I love the creativity the characters in this book have to change thing such as "mud" into "cake". It is a good book for younger students with very wild and unique imaginations.

[Jane G Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun, lively picture book all about using your imagination. Both the text and the style of the illustrations are reminiscent of "A Hole is to Dig," but much more colorful. I especially love the page where the porch becomes a stage and on the grass are wild animals as the audience--and one bear in particular is rolling around, laughing hysterically. Super fun...

[Amanda Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Students would love the silly adventures and scenarios from this book. There's no particular plot or purpose, but it would encourage kids to use their imagination and make fun wherever they go and whatever they are doing.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the illustrations for this book.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute, and very Sendak-esque illustrations. The text reminded me of A Hole Is To Dig, so A+ for being like books I love all around.

[Malissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the inspired imagination in this book. The illustrations just add another layer to the text.

[Juan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute but nothing special or unique. Nice for younger kids though.

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is a really cute book. The kids didn't seem very interested, but it was a boring group overall.

[Damera Blincoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I'm the only one that finds fault in the grammar. I think the illustrations are cute, but I had a hard time not correcting the sentences.

[michelle smith]

https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit...#

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story told in rhyme, is about the use of a child's imagination as they enter the world of play, and all the things that they do, and the places they can go.

[Sarah Hornback · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book with its fun writing a rhyming. It lets children be imaginative and hones on the soul idea. It helps teach vocab words and uses fun illustrations to keep the reader and all listeners entertained.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kids loved this one. The pictures were great and matched the story.

[Emily McDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagination!

[Aolund · Rating 3 out of 5]

A celebration of imagination with gorgeous illustrations that are nonetheless disappointing for featuring only white children.

Themes: Imagination
Age range: Toddler-Kindergarten

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nicely illustrated book about the power of imagination.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this rhyming book about the power of make believe! This book invites us to pretend, too.

[jacky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dreamy book about the power of imagination.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

About imagination, pretty illustrations. I couldn't really find the rhythm to this book.