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*Clever Jack Takes the Cake* by Candace Fleming, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
 
Also by Candace Fleming:

Tippy-Tippy-Tippy, Splash!

Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart

The Fabled Fifth Graders of Aesop Elementary School

The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P.T. Barnum

Seven Hungry Babies

Imogene's Last Stand

The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary

 
Also illustrated by G. Brian Karas:

Tippy-Tippy-Tippy, Splash!

Neville

Daniel's Mystery Egg/El misterioso huevo de Daniel (Green Light Readers Level 2)
Clever Jack Takes the Cake
by Candace Fleming, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
Grades PreK-2 40 pages Schwartz and Wade August 2010 Hardcover    

Jack leaves for the castle holding a fresh homemade birthday cake, but as he nears his destination, the cake gets smaller and smaller.

Blackbirds can’t resist the walnuts that spell Happy Birthday. A troll demands one of the two cake layers as payment to cross the bridge, and a dancing bear swallows up what little remains. Jack does get back the big juicy strawberry after the bear spits it out, but only until the castle guard sees it and makes an excuse to eat it himself.

Jack arrives at the princess’s birthday party empty-handed, but what he gives her as a gift impresses her more than the rubies and gold by her side. Fleming and Karas (Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!) incorporate elements from the Three Billy Goats Gruff, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty into this tale about storytelling magic.

The illustrations, which are rendered in gouache and pencil, complement the timeless feel of this fairytale. Jack is a resourceful, imaginative character who will appeal to both boys and girls.
 


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  Tanya Boudreau/2010 for curled up with a good kid's book  






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