Sunday Sweets: Reading Rocks
May 31, 2009 This past week I read a story on how rapper Kanye West is a "proud non-reader" and, despite the fact that he recently wrote a 52-page book of "Kanye-isms" that he would like you to buy and read yourself, he has "no respect" for books. Or to put it in his own words,
That's good, Kanye, since it's a right pain to get a book to even hold a pen, much less autograph itself.
Anyhoo, after banging my head against the desk and weeping for future generations, I decided that today we should celebrate those authors and illustrators who made (and make) reading so much fun during our early years.
Remember The Very Hungry Caterpillar
[swooning] Just lookit those teensy little feet! And how perfectly the greens swirl together!
.Here's a side view:
Love that big orange nose. (There's another WTWTA Sweet here, too.)Here are a few that look like the book itself:
I like how the curtain goes from 2D to 3D - very nice.Zita H. found this next one on Cake Central, but she didn't say by which baker. Let me know who I should credit if you recognize it:
I especially like how the "book" looks a little careworn - as if it's been read many times. I'm going to give the baker the benefit of the doubt and assume that's intentional. ;)
Here's some more Dr. Seuss, this time courtesy of Debbie Does Cakes:
Amazing.
I was hoping we'd have some Golden Books represented today, and luckily Hey You delivered with this Poky Little Puppy inspired cutie:
This was made by her friend Stacey, and you can see more pictures of it and the party here.
I've had this Babar
I love everything: the colors, the outlining, the garland... just exquisite.
And finally, how about a little love for Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit?
He looks like felt, doesn't he? That's some gorgeous figure modeling!(By Cheryl of Heavenly Confections.)
Reader Comments (208)
Such creative and lovely cakes! Looking at the Babar cake made me feel like I was visiting an old and dear friend from my childhood. I have such love for that elephant.
WV: vigan - I think perhaps it's a vegan who also eats ice cream.
Love them all, especially Peter Rabbit, with the Dr. Seuss close behind.
Cake and awesome children's literature: nothing sweeter than that!
nice! esp love the bunny cake. thanks for showing these today!
Kanye was raised in a comfortably middle class environment and is a guy who every once in a while, and because of his listening public, feels compelled to dumb it down. Not all of his statements can be the gem that was "Bush hates black folks."
I think this may be my favorite Sunday Sweets ever, because, unlike Kanye (um, who's self-absorbed?!), I have always loved books and reading.
My 4 yr old loved and identified each of these cakes correctly. Her favorite is the Poky Little Puppy! We'll be reading one of those books later today I'm sure of it. :)
I can proudly say that I have read everyone of those books and loved them all. This may be one of my favorite Sunday Sweets ever. And the Poky little puppy made me sigh dreamily.
Sara
Loved the cakes and the inspiration to encourage reading. Where the Wild Things Are is STILL one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing these and for confirming my opinion of Mr. "I'm a Dodo" West.
I found your site thru another blog. Beautiful cakes done by talented artists. I love the Beatrix Potter cakethe best. I loved being read her stories by my Mother. Yes Kanye, open your mouth and show your ignorance.
While I love the WRECKS, I do have to admit that a day of beauties is fab. These are all very sweet cakes. (No pun intended.) I think I'm going to read some of these to my kids today.
Don't get me started on that guy! I read with my kids all the time and we LOVE it! Great mix of cakes today....I especially love how a CCC and become a Mosaic!
Oh, I love this post!! All of those cakes are fantastic, and I love all of those books. My son already has several of them and we read every single day (he's 16 months old). I guess Kanye and I wouldn't get along very well - I love to read!
I love this post! Now I want one.
As a high school English teacher, I've worked against statements like that for years and even used some of Kanye West's music to get kids writing. I'm so angry that he would say something like that about reading. There does a whole generation of readers down the drain.
Thank you for this post! You rock!
Emily
Aww! I love the Babar cake!
These are gorgeous cakes! Even the cupcake mosaic!
Don't forget that your local library probably has a summer reading program for the kids and maybe something for the adults! One of the best ways to get kids to read is to let them see that you enjoy reading.
Now if we can just get Kanye to stop TALKING too...
I'm so excited to see the Pokey Little Puppy cake; that was one of my all time favorites as a kid and may now have to be inspiration for my yet to be born daughter's first birthday! :o)
These cakes tugged at my KidsAreGrownUpButNoGrandChildrenYet heartstrings
Thank you :)
WOW... Those just brought back so many memories! I LOVED all those books! Er, cakes! SO very pretty!
DK
http://uberfoodnoob.blogspot.com/
So beautiful!
The best part? My wonderful 2 year old sitting on my lap knew EVERY book! =D
It's unfortunate that a lot of the kids I see every day share Kanye's line of thinking. They usually stare at me wide-eyed because I'm "that sub" that comes in with a pile of books and reads all day. I love reading!
Today's Sunday Sweets just makes me so happy. Hooray for Cake Wrecks!
Really Kanye? I would never want a book's autograph either, because a book is an inanimate object. What he meant is that he would never want an author's autograph. You know, the people who write those wordy, self absorbed books.
Hmmm, wordy, self absorbed; 808's and heartbreak anyone?noness
That made me want to cry. It's hard enough to get the average kid to read, and he goes and stacks the odds even further against success. Wow.
The cakes were *amazing*! I couldn't believe how life-like the Fox in Sox book was! And the Beatrix Potter was great too!
Thanks for sharing, Jen!
This is my favorite Sunday post ever. Thank you for sharing these wonderful cakes.
I love how Kanye's criticism of books is that they are "wordy and self-absorbed". Wordy self-absorption is a pretty accurate descriptor of the man himself. Maybe he feels that books are his direct competitors? Would explain the hostility.
Enough bitching; these cakes kick ass!
Awwww! I did a hungry caterpillar cake for my daughter's first birthday!!! Everyone says it was the best one I did...please look if you're interested :)
http://cakedreamer.blogspot.com
These are great! I read most of these books to my kids! We LOVE Fox in Socks!!!
Thanks!
Wow Kanye. Wonderful role model there.
I love these cakes, though! They bring back so many memories from my childhood.
That Peter Rabbit cake is amazing.
Wow, that quote was scary. Nice role model for our children.
Great selection! Looks yummy and brings back some amazing memories... I especially love the Babar cake!
Thanks for your blog, it's always a pleasure reading your updates!
This is my favorite post ever (save the Kanye nonsense).
What inspiring cakes and what a fantastic way to fight ignorance - through the uniter of all - Cake!
Emily
-Munich Bavaria
These are all works of art - the cakes AND the books themselves. I'm now reading every one of those to my grandchildren, and several of them are their mother's old copies...that makes them even more special to my girls! Now, how about cakes for the Tawny, Scrawny Lion and the Saggy Baggy Elephant!!! Thanks Jen - and as for Kanye???What a jerk!
On Kanye...maybe if you have read more during your childhood you would be able to speak properly.
Sad for you -- no matter how much money you make you are still unintelligent.
I love the Dr. Seuss cakes. Oh how I would of loved a Dr. Seuss cake for my birthday when I was little!
Sunday Sweets are my fav!
Awesome, awesome, awesome...etc...I am swooning at the gorgeous-ness...and even a fabulous and perfect CCC...will wonders never cease?...made my Sunday! :o)
These are all lovely.
I'm proud to be raising a entusiastic book lover. She can't read yet but she's rather have a new book than a new toy.
those are sooo cool!
The cakes are brilliant! Thanks for posting... they brought back a lot of memories!
Very, very cool. My favorite post yet, I have to admit. I find myself wondering which bakery would best render Cimorene of "Dealing With Dragons," and would I prefer her making cherries jubilee or arguing with Kazul? Then my mind wanders to my childhood and the books my mom read me -- "Herbert the Timid Dragon," or "It'll All Come Out in the Wash," and I start wondering where I can find a copy of those books and a proper bakery to represent my childhood in sweet cake form.
Oh my goodness those are all so adorable. That Pokey Little Puppy cake especially. They make me want to dig out and re-read all those books... although considering my "baby" turns 12 years old next week, might not be appreciated LOL.
Why does Kayne think it's so cool not to read?!? He's the one missing out.
I adore all of these cakes esp the Peter Rabbit one and Hungry Catterpillar.
truly beautiful cakes!
but i am still cringing at the quote... shameful... meh
Well. Though I do enjoy it myself, reading is only *one* way to get an education. Just saying. Socrates was a pretty clever guy who was against written language, and he's a character in Plato's writings. Kind of like Kanye being a character in whomever wrote the Kanye-isms book. Kanye's fame and money comes out of an oral tradition. Are we to say cultures that use writing to pass information on are superior to oral traditions? Hmm.
Oh my gosh I loved all of those books so much, especially The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Babaar. The cakes are lovely. I would want one of them if I ever children.
Adorable cakes! TFS!
I love today's post, it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside remembering those books I loved as a kid and still love to this day.
awsome.. especially adore the Pokey Little Puppy as that was my favourite story when I was little.
books and book cakes rock!
Man, and up til I read that quote, I actually thought Kanye had his head on pretty straight (and to be fair, it would surprise me not at all if his "anti-book-ism" was a calculated pose--for one thing, his father is a college professor, and for another thing, I HIGHLY doubt he got his verbal facility from watching Barney and Teletubbies all his life. You cannot write lyrics as well as he does and be totally book-avoidant.)
(/end tangential non-cake-related commentary)
Those are some of the most gorgeous cakes I've ever seen, and I'm even factoring in my likely bias as a bibliophile. The technique and the accuracy of those book covers....man. I'm just speechless. (And hungry--also hungry. Anybody got some cake?)
WV: miess. Unlike the cakes in today's post, Saturday's featured cakes were a hot miess.
I absolutely adore those cakes. What artistry!
And as a writer, I find Kanye West's attitude highly offensive. >:(
Word verification: trant. A cross between a tantrum and a rant.
I used to LOVE the Very Hungry Caterpillar book! And so many of the others that were featured... like the Pokey Little Puppy... how fun! Yay!