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)
"I would never want a book's autograph."
Funny that you included that quote, Jen, because when I read about Kanye's opinions on books, that is the sentence that stood out the most to me. I just wanted to scream (we won't talk about WHAT I wanted to scream)...and say exactly what you said in your post.
I don't have any kids of my own to read to, but I volunteer at a Head Start center reading 1-on-1 to preschoolers, so I am starting to learn more about kid's books. :)
P.S. Word verification: unplesyn.
Definition: How Kanye spells "unpleasant."
I'm pretty sure Kanye's mom was an English teacher. Yikes-- maybe he done needs someone to be editing his "isms" for him, fool. Word.
The Pokey Little Puppy was my favorite book when I was little, so that gets my vote for the best cake in today's group. But really, all of them are spectacular.
As much as I enjoy seeing and chuckling at the wrecks-seeing the amazing cakes that are well made is even better.
these are INCREDIBLE!!! As a teacher, I'm always promoting reading...and what more could you want than a book AND cake in one?! Its a slice of HEAVEN!!!
I thought the 1st one, Hungry Caterpillar, was terrific, but then they just kept getting BETTER...
That Pokey Little Puppy cake has details that are absolutely amazing.... thank you for posting all of these!!
WOW!! Those are amazing. Hard to choice a favorite in those pics.
Those are beautiful! I love book and I love cake, so the only thing which would make me like this post more is if I could have a bite of cake. Kanye West is such a strange fellow.
Kanye's most arrogant statement ever..
he said that his one regret in life is that he can never see himself perform live (because he's the one performing) and he's SO good that he really feels he's missing out by not being able to experience that.
Then I saw him on American Idol performing in a results show. He was using the vocoder on that "Heartless" song. A. I couldn't understand him and B. He was so out of breath from performing that the song sounded out of tune even with the vocoder on.
Clearly, he's super awesome live... um, no.
Thanks to anonymous for posting that edible book festival link - awesome - Pita Rabbit indeed. lol
I loved all these cakes! Pokey Little Puppy and Peter Rabbit rock but they are all great.
I seriously dislike Kanye - he has never had any appeal for me, although at the very first I had some hope, which disintegrated really fast. He is the dictionary definition of "tool".
Ooooooh... I LOVE these!
The Peter Rabbit one is simply exquisite!!
I'm a reader... and I was blessed with children that take after their mama.
I would rather read than eat (other than cake of course) and my day care kids are the same way - they always have their little noses in books. :-)
Kayne West's comments? Pbbbpttt!
That's all I've got to say...
Those are great! The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Goodnight Moon are two of my favorite children's books!
Oh!! Wow! I love ALL of these. Makes the sound of my biological clock much louder...uh oh.
My mom made me a book birthday cake once for a Favorite Story Book Character Dress-up Birthday Party.
Bit of a mouth full, but the cake looked like an open book with my name and age printed on it. I love books and the hungry caterpillar...Any chance I could order him? He is soo cute, just like the story front.
The One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish one is a dream come true! It's one of my all-time favorites :-)
awww. these took me down memeory lane. i absolutely love the catapillar!!!
My generation and the ones below me make me not want to breed.
I loved the Babar cake. All my friends make fun of me for loving Babar, but it was a huge part of my childhood.
I feel so lucky to have grown up in the (late) 80s and 90s so that I got a chance to live in the real, tactile world before being introduced to the internet and other such technology. I've been in love with books my whole life and I owe so much joy and comfort to these books. I've read those (and many other) Dr. Seuss books countless times. I love Peter Rabbit. These cakes are gorgeous and they bring back so many happy memories.
I've never liked Kanye West. He's arrogant and ignorant and rude, but after that last statement I'm beginning to think that he's just plain stupid. Whether he ought to be or not, he's a role model (as sad as that is) and he can influence kids. He should use that power to encourage kids to read. If kids continue to eschew literature for television and technology then maybe we really will end up in a world like that in the movie Idiocracy. That would be terrifyingly tragic.
Wow! My favorite Sunday Sweets ever! Thanks!!
Now cakes like these, especially the Goodnight Moon cake should be baby shower cakes!
Painful as it was, I did follow Jen's link to the erudite Mr. West's interview. So being a non-reader was helpful by giving him a 'childlike purity', huh? *rolls eyes* This Sunday Sweets is truly all about 'childlike purity'. Rock on!!
love the pokey little puppy!
love the cakes!!! it looks awesome. too good to eat.
Shame on Kanye West.
These are AWESOME! My favorite is the Peter Rabbit cake. My kids are 21 and 23 now (sigh), but I think I read them all these books...I loaned all my kids' books to my sister to use for her kids, but made her give them all back!
LOVE them!! And I'm weeping for the future here too, we're AVID readers in our house. What an ignorant way to think, eh?
I think most of these are too pretty to eat...
I'm an avid reader--have been since I was little--and it always confuses me when people say they hate reading.
Great cakes! I remember some of these from when I was a young'un.
This is one of my favorite Sunday Sweets ever. I'm biased because I'm a bibliophile but I love the trend of book cakes. And the hungry caterpillar feets! And sprinkle bristles! Too cute. Made me squee.
Kanye's statement about books threw me into a fit of rage and made me weep for the future at the same time. I don't care if he doesn't like to read (though it makes me sad) but it's just irresponsible to add to the devaluation of the written word when it's been on the decline for so long. I don't understand how one can try to defend rap as art (which it can be) while completely disregarding other art forms, especially ones as relevant as literature. Thanks for fighting for literacy with cake! It's the tastiest way!
The Poky Little Puppy is my all time favorite, and that cake is CUTE!
Phew! Cupcake mosaic, OK. I was so afraid I was going to have to say I like a cupcake "cake"... mosaic. LOVE IT!
Those cakes are beautiful! I don't know if I could eat one- way too pretty! Each one is better than the last.
Aw, these are amazing cakes! I especially love the Dr. Seuss ones, but they're all AWESOME!
"Gooey goo for chewy chewing, that's what that goo-goose is doing...."
"Chicks with bricks come, chicks with blocks come, chicks with bricks and blocks and clocks come....."
"From near to far, from here to there, funny things are everywhere."
"My hat is old, my teeth are gold, I have a bird I like to hold, my shoe is off, my foot is cold." (reverse)
The fact that my hubby, my kids, and myself can quote these at any time makes me proud as can be. Take that, celebri-twit. How about a tweetle beetle battle?
It is my firm opinion that it is our obligation as literary types to disregard and yes, even shun the dullards such as what's-his-face with the outsize ego who has to tell you how great he is.
I'm reminded of a comment I read before "Just because you say doesn't necessarily make it so..." (A terrific read called "Acts of Gord"...)
Hail Books. Bless Books. Bless Literacy. Bless Intelligence.
Oh, and Cake!
Ha! That's so cool! :D I love all of them. Yay for children's book cakes :)
He said WHAT? *facepalm*
Anyway, this Sunday's cakes are adorable! I love Dr. Seuss :D
Little secret for ya - Kanye can't read, so his defense mechanism kicked in when he said he hates reading! He He.
Maybe he doesn't have wonderful memories of parents who snuggled with him with a book before bed - very sad. All these books were by our childrens' bedside just waiting to be cracked open for the hundreth time. Beautiful work!!
Hmmm...well, if Kanye doesn't like books, I guess he'll just have to miss out on these beautiful cakes.
I'm a newish reader... just found this blog a few weeks ago- and I LOVE it! thank for the great blog Jen!
Kanye West you are a... I'm not going to comment because it would need to be censored... I have a hard time believing the kids I go to school with really think that that pompous jerk is something to aspire to...
As a bibliophile I loved this post! My room is filled with books and I've been reading almost anything I can get my hands on since I've been able to read...
AHHHHHHHHHH! Some people just make you shake your head and wonder how they have ever managed to make it in the world.
Thank you for supporting reading! Books and words are wonderful. So are illustrators - AND cake decorators who can make amazing cakes like you have displayed today! I love the children's books cakes, especially The Pokey Puppy. I wonder if there are cakes out there of grown-up books? Perhaps on another Sunday you could show them to us?
Jen, you're awesome. Kanye West is most certainly not awesome.
Gorgeous cakes! Every single one is perfect!
YAY! I am so glad that you liked Our Pokey Little Puppy cake! The picture really does not do it justice, it was just perfect. And tasty too! My next favorite was the Potter cake, that bunny looks stuffed it is so darling.
Hmmm. And to think that Kanye West's mother was pretty high up at Chicago State University. I'm sure she tried to instill a love of reading, and yet....
Thank you. This post gave me even more of a reason to dislike Kanye West :-P
And these are AMAZING! I love the Dr. Seuss ones :)
Beautiful!
It makes me want to grab all of those books and read them to my kids NOW (and yes, I have every single one of them).
I read The Poky Little Puppy so many times as a kid, I wore out the book.
Kanye West is an asshat - who doesn't read.
Some of my son's favorite books! I don't know who Kanye West is and now, don't care to!
BTW, WV...novels....LMBO!
awesome cakes! all the classic books. defiantly makes me want to wake my kids up and read to them, well... maybe i'll wait till the morning,LOL
WOW!!!! thank you so much for featuring my caterpillar cupcakes cake and where the wild things are cake!!! i am so happy to be on cake wrecks... in the sunday sweets section of course...
i love your blog, i think it's hilarious and read it often, so it's really awesome to find myself on it!!!
xo lyndsay
In a world where Twilight is a force of nature and Oprah gets shown up by a fake addict's fake autobiography, I can't blame Kanye for distrusting books. Words don't magically gain credibility or value by being printed on paper.
Shame nobody did a Lorax cake... that's my favorite Dr. Seuss.
Ooo...a QuoteWreck on CakeWrecks. I've always wondered what it would feel like to be stupid. Perhaps Kanye could shed some light on that in a future interview, because I believe that he seems to be fairly stricken with that affliction.
Lovely cakes. Children's literature is amazing!
~kate
Kanye needs a good beating.
Wow cakes are really awesome.
I think that you might very well fall in love with some of these cakes. :) http://www.charmcitycakes.com/gallery