Sunday Sweets: Story Time!
March 11, 2012 Grab your blankies and cuddle up, kids! It's story time!
Now, what should we read tonight? Go, Dog, Go? Yeah ... that book is 62 pages long. How about we look at the cake version instead?
;)
Don't you love how the wheels on Dog's car look like he's speeding away? Go, Dog! Go wherever you're going! (I don't know where that is, because I've never made it to the end of the book.)
Let's try again. If you really have your heart set on a dog book, how about this one: Who's big and red and ... um ... read all over?
;)
By Sweetbakes
It's Clifford, the big red dog! But doesn't he make for a cute cake, too? He's probably chock full of red velvet cake under that big behind. Mmmm. Mama's getting hungry. Be right back.
*wiping cake crumbs off face* Thanks for waiting, kids; Mama, uh, had to make a phone call. Now, have you decided on a book yet? How about Tatty-Ratty?
;)
You know what, never mind. That book reminds me of my own stuffed bunny that went missing when I was little. Ok, I was 19. Whatever, it was heartbreaking. Stop laughing, or you guys are going straight to bed.
You heard me, straight to bed! And I've got just the thing to lull you into slumber: Goodnight Moon. Seriously, this book has sedative powers.
;)
But this cake will keep you awake, oohing and ahhing over all the cuteness. See the cow jumping over the moon? So tiny! And the sleepy widdle bunny! I love a book with a hoppy ending. (Har.)
Now, if you're in the mood for a moral with your story, there's always The Berenstain Bears.
;)
They'll teach us to not talk to strangers, or how to take better care of our pets, or watch less TV, or use good manners ... but you already know all that junk, right? So let's just drool over this tasty looking cake instead. The whole gang's here!
(Except Queenie. She's such a brat!)
*yawn* Mama's getting tired, kids. Let's get this show on the road. How about if we read The Lorax?
;)
By Erin Salerno
Or we could just wait and go see it in the theater. The movie looks really cute, and I'm not even getting paid to say that. But you know what else is cute? Everything on this cake: the Truffala tree, the bucket, the fish, the Lorax's mustache! Adorbs.
What else have we got? Howl's Moving Castle? Hmmm, I'm not familiar with this one.
;)
However, if it's nearly as intense and detailed as this ridicul-awesome cake is, well, it's going to have to wait until tomorrow, kiddos. Mama's running out of gas. (How is all that cake being held up on those stick-legs? HOW?!)
Ok, now Olivia is one of my favorites!
;)
How could you not love this sassy little pig? All dressed up in a strapless gown and her tiara? With pearly pink fondant skin? Oops, sorry, looks like I'm talking about cake again.
Back to the bookshelf. Let's see what you've picked out now. The Giving Tree!? Are you trying to send your dear old mother into a tailspin of depression? That is the saddest book of all time! Old Yeller has a happier ending!
;)
Submitted by Alexandra L. and made by Tiffany's Baking Co.
But this cake will cheer me up - if you can even believe it's cake! That bark looks 100% real! And the moss! Selfless sacrifice to the point of utter destruction has never looked so tasty!
Anyway, let's aim for something that won't make me cry. Curious George is a fun read!
;)
And an even funner cake! ("Funner" is not a real word, kids. Just thought we'd throw some education in here for a sec.) But let's talk about the cake some more: Isn't that the most spot-on representation of sweet little George that you've ever seen? (And it really puts this in perspective, don't you think?)
Ok, last try. The Very Hungry Caterpillar? Great choice! Short, sweet, and a surprise ending too:
;)
By Cakes by Cat
Spoiler alert: The surprise is that the caterpillar turns into a butterfly. Just like the butterfly on top of this beautifully colorful cake! I mean just like it. It looks exactly like the one in the book, right?
Kids?
Hey, are you guys even awake?
Ah, it's just as well; Mama's getting hungry again anyway.
Have a Sweet to nominate? Then send it to Sunday Sweets [at] Cake Wrecks [dot] com.
Reader Comments (98)
Howl's Moving Castle is available to watch via Netflix Instant Jen. YOU MUST SEE IT! You're Geeky Girl self with love it!
I agree with all the comments to read and watch Howl's Moving Castle. They have some major differences and are both wonderful.
If your not familiar with the Studio Ghibli films...WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU??? (just kidding) But really you should see them. They are wonderful. http://www.onlineghibli.com/films.php
As a retired librarian, much of the thirty-odd years (and some of them very odd indeed) spent in the Children's Department, I love how these marvelously gifted cake artists have interpreted some very endearing children's books. And how wonderful that parents are reading the books often enough to give them a cake to match a favorite.
Mathilde is right, you really should watch all of the Miyazaki films. You'll wish there were more once you finish. I think you'll love them. And I have never commented but been a loyal rss follower for years. My day isn't complete without Cakewrecks. Thanks for all the laughs (and sweets)!
The Go, Dog, Go cake is really a P.D. Eastman dog cake--the bottom tier is at least partly from Fred and Ted. The tree on the bottom looks like the big dog party tree from Go, Dog, Go, though. (I have read both of them a million times in my kindergarten ESL classes when we're teaching opposites.) You can skip over a bunch of random pages in Go, Dog, Go, and no one even notices....
Beautiful cake!
I know others have said this, but it bears repeating (and emphasis!). YOU MUST GO WATCH HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE! Love it!
Also, I like all the cakes
But mostly: Howl's Moving Castle. Go. Now.
OMG you haven't seen Howl's???? Please you must immediately go out and rent/buy/netflix the ENTIRE Miyazaki movie library! You MUST see Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away at the least! *Considers temporary revocation of your nerd card until situation is rectified!*
Glad to see that I'm not the only one to dislike "The Giving Tree". SPOILER ALERT: With a book like that to teach you that everyone around you should give you everything you want even if they must sacrifice themselves to do it? And it's a Bestselling Children's book?! You'd think parents have better sense - they are going to end up like the tree!
Jen, I love your recent writing style for Sunday Sweets - more humorous and inventive, closer in style to your weekday posts. Keep it up if you're able, but for the sake of s'mores, take a breather when needed and allow yourself the luxury of writing the obvious, like "ooo, shiny!" and "wowzers!"
(For me, writing the obvious usually involves "Wikipedia is not a student in my class, so why am I reading a paper from it?")
~~~~
I thought you should know. Back in January, we hung our 2012 calendar on the fridge and I added our necessaries to it. Then I added some unnecessaries, like "Have a Kiss Day" and "Wave at 20 Strangers Day." Well, to my surprise when I was preparing to go grocery-shopping this Saturday, I saw that it was "I Love You Forever Day."
Clearly this called . . . for cake!
I bought a German chocolate cake and asked the bakery worker to pipe "Happy I Love You Forever Day." It was a fairly good job, and we thought it was a scrummy-good celebration to boot. Thank you, Cake Wrecks, for reminding us to enjoy prosaic life in poetic ways.
(Yes, chocolate frosting and coconut IS poetry. I can't believe this was even in doubt.)
(Sheesh.)
I thought it was Berenstein? I could be completely wrong, though. (Please don't revoke my Cake Wrecks card if I am, okay? *hides*)
@BassBone:
Huh? My family literally just got home from seeing "The Lorax", and we are extremely confused by your comment. It could not be more ANTI-corporate, contains much Seussian dialogue verbatim, and tried to stay true to the theme of the book (I think). As for the claim that it's "misogynistic", some of the female characters are mocked for comedic effect, true, but at least three are heroines, helping to save the last Truffola tree. I can only conclude that you haven't actually seen the movie.
Go Dog Go! My favorite! You really never got to the end? Skip all those lessons in adverbs and go directly to the tree! to the tree! to the big dog party. It is the funnest scene in picture books.
That's OK, I know you were saving them as a treat for my birthday xxx
Another vote for Howl's Moving Castle (the movie). It was pretty good (not Miyazaki's best, "Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind" takes that honor, followed by "Princess Mononoke". "Castle in the Sky" is also quite good... and no one mentioned these. For shame.
Margaret Wise Brown was a fantastic children's author. The "Goodnight Moon" cake is simply so very sweet!
OMGoodness, my daughter would FLIP OUT for the Very Hungry Caterpillar cake!! So amazing!!
She calls it The Hungry Very Caterpillar though, it's so cute!!
You need to watch Howl's Moving Castle NOW! It's on Netflix' "Watch Instantly" right now. It's amazing, just like that cake! (All of Miyazaki's films are fantastic actually... I'd love to see a Spirited Away cake!)
Okay, so chalk up yet another vote for Howl's Moving Castle (the book), BUT - that castle-cake has chicken feet. Which would make it Baba Yaga's house, wouldn't it? I remember the castle as floating about Ingary, not walking (though I haven't read it in a while and may be mixed up).
seriously yo have to see howl's castle. it's slow but my kiddos love it and they hate anything that looks like anime
Please watch Howl's Moving Castle, it's not right now, but it's sometimes on the Netflix streaming.
This may be my favorite Sunday Sweets ever, even if it is Monday. I really want to eat these, but how can I desecrate my favorite books/cake? I wonder what flavor Howl's castle is?
To anyone who is not familiar with Howl's Moving Castle, I would highly recommend it. And if you haven't heard of My Neighbor Totoro, I would HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend it! (for Totoro, go with the Fox dub or the original Japanese dub).
FYI ethe cake that Jen didn't know about was from howels moving castle- beautiful movie! Its by the same guy who did Ponyo, Totoro and spirited away. He's done others, but those are the most famous in the ol' USA.
Jan Berenstein is dead? Now I'm sad too. Love, love, love these cakes! Have read all the books even though I don't have kids. I howl with laughter at the daily cake wrecks, but these Sunday sweets were special enough to make me post.
Just throwing in my two cents here, echoing what everyone else has said about the Howl's Moving Castle cake/movie/books. They are definite must reads/watch. And it's apparently a must-eat now too. He!
Beautiful Cakes! Well done!
Howl's Moving Castle!
My heart was broken that you weren't familiar with Howl, but then I saw the boatload of recommendations, and now I feel better. :-)
P.S. There wouldn't be this many recommendations for the book AND movie if they weren't worth it. They both are.
An ode to Howl!? Not really a kid book, but more tween fiction, and Ghibli even mafe an awesome anime movie of it. Wow! Exact replica od that castle!
Y'know, if there's just a few more comments for Howl's then it might equal a PB reference day which usually hits about a hundred comments- many of which are just "I love the PB reference!" :D
C'mon, Howl fans- you can do it!
adorable tatty ratty cake...super post!
Wow, Eric Carle was my favorite author when I was younger. I just loved the butterfly in the end. But aside from that, you know Paper Mario and the Thousand-Year Door? If you look up Super mario wiki then the title, you look for the first opption and you scroll down the screen until you see number eleven on the side. you click on eleven, "bosses", and scroll down until you reach the shadow queen. There are so many things there that I never knew about! You really need to look at it. \m/(>.<)\m/
Have to add one more comment about Curious George. His hands COULD be like that if his arms were crossed under his chest, where we can't see them. Is it likely? No. But possible.
I don't think I could cut a single one of these cakes, or most of the Sweets ever.
@Haiku Joy. Hate to be the one to break it to you, but Jen did not write this Sweets post - it was Lindsey. Gotta give credit where it's due, right?
[Editor's note- True, though we are moving toward having a bit more fun on Sundays even when Jen or I write the post. But yeah, Lindsey is awesome. -john]
Tatty-Ratty even got sprinkles!!
You have GOT to see Howl's Moving Castle; you will love it completely and appreciate the cake all the more. The novel by Diana Wynne Jones is also amazing, in a different way that has nothing to do with the cake. But see the movie fo'shizzle!
LOVE these! But The Giving Tree? It's about an emotionally abuse relationship, a giver and a taker! I hate that book!
Howl's moving castle! It's held up by a fire demon via magic! Great book and movie. The cake is based on the castle in the movie...
I loved the Howl's Moving Castle cake. I want to join in with the support crowd and say "GO! Watch it! Love it!" and the book as well. They are rather different stories, but I found reading the book helped me understand the nuances of the movie. Miyazaki films are always full of nuance and should be watch more than once.
I have to say the Howl's Moving Castle cake is amazing! And the book is for young adults not children but the movie is great! My son is named Howle after the book! LOVE IT!
Howl's Moving Castle is a wonderful book by Diana Wynne Jones. I've been a fan of her books since I was in my early teens. So I'm extremely sad to learn of her death last March. It would explain why I hadn't seen any new books by her recently. You simply must read that book.
Then see the movie.
You should definitely see Howl's Moving Castle if you want a beautiful movie. It's so vibrant! The cake, as wonderful as it is, doesn't do the movie justice.
The butterfly is too too awesome. Also, in cookies... http://lifesabatch.com/?p=313
:D
You ARE joking when you say you're unfamiliar with HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE, aren't you? If you aren't, either get the book AND see the movie immediately or turn in your fan credentials this instant! ^_^ One of the best fantasy books and best fantasy movies of all time.
I'm a huge fan of both Diana Wynne Jones (check out the Chrestomanci books and Deep Secrets) and Miyazaki (Sprited Away - you know, the one they created the Best Animated Film Oscar for, or it would have won Best Picture instead - Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service are my other favs).
Love, love, love the Curious George cake, even though I never liked the books as a child.
And I'm going to chime in with the rest here and say you're going to have to give up your geek cred if you don't immediately make yourself familiar with Miyazaki's films, starting with Howl, Spirited Away, and My Neighbor Totoro. All of Miyazaki's work is among the best animated films ever made (eat celluloid, Disney!). They're visually breathtaking, emotionally complex, and completely un-Hollywood.
The Tatty Ratty cake is beautiful! I love the way the text is sprawled across the cake, with the rabbit sitting on top. It keeps it recognizable as a cake (rather than a sugar-coated sculpture) but is impeccably finished and detailed! I've never actually come across that particular book, but the concept is fantastic, should I suddenly acquire ridiculous cake-decorating skills.
Howl's was the first Miyazaki movie I saw in the theater. The movie led me to the book. To me the book is so different I'm glad I saw the movie first. I loved it and it might have been disappointing if couldn't stop tallying up the differences while watching. Now I can adore both separately.
I am inordinately pleased at all these HMC recommendations.
You've already gotten a ton of people telling you to read/watch Howl's, but there is one more reason you should watch the movie: it's very steampunk-esque. It might not be technically 100% steampunk, but it's got a bunch of the elements! (and is very good!)
The best Olivia cake ever! : http://sweetdesigns.wordpress.com/childs-cakes/
@A Nony
I did indeed miss that Lindsey had written it. Well-done, Lindsey! Much enjoyed.