Duchess Bakes a Cake

This was one of the truly formative books of my youth. Silly and fun and with a wonderful rhyme. I have the most wonderful memories of my mother reading this to me. Years ago, when I first had children, I HAD to find this book for them and it was out of print. I managed to find an excellent copy but spent nearly $100 for it -- and thought it worth every cent! Now that its back in print, I've bought FOUR more copies -- for gifts for all the children of the right age that I can think of. Highly, highly, highly recommended!

This book is the reason I got a library card as a child. I loved (and still love) the predicament of the duchess. She was only trying to bake "a lovely light luscious delectable cake" for her family--but things get a bit out of control when she adds too much leavening to the batter. The rhyme and meter are lilting and memorable, the names of her daughters (e.g. "Gunhilde") sound exotic and old-fashioned to a child's ear, and the illustrations are delightful. I'm now in my 30's, and am pleasantly surprised to find that the book is still in print. Even though I don't have any children, I have purchased the book so that I can read it to my siblings' kids and pass on the laughter (and memories) to another generation in my family.

This is a lyrical, rhythmic, rhyming book of pure joy. Read to a toddler, it will sooth and enchant; to a pre-reader, it becomes a lesson in language and a memory exercise; as an adult with grandchildren of my own, it is a sweet remembrance of my childhood to share with the little one in my lap. It comes with my own personal five star rating.

What wonderful memories of reading this book as a child! My oldest sister would bring me and my siblings to the library. We would sit in the corner and read The Duchess Bakes A Cake. The rhymes quickly capture a child's attention. The book is an engaging tale of the royal Duchess' mishap in the kitchen. Solving the problem was difficult because their poor brains were such that they hadn't thought often and they hadn't thought much. My own children quickly learned the chorus,so to speak, of the lovely light lucious delectable cake. I know they, too, will treasure this memorable book.

This is a book that was read to me over and over again when I was a young child more than 30 years ago, and one that I have checked out of the library to read to my own children. No one who has read it will ever forget the delightful sing-song poetry of the story of the duchess, a mother of many young daughters, who becomes bored one day and sets out to bake "a lovely, light, luscious, delectable cake." Unfortunately, the duchess adds too much yeast to her mixture, and the cake rises and rises and rises. . . and carries the duchess, sitting on top of it, skyward. The entire kingdom gets involved in her rescue, and they try everything imaginable to get her down. Just as they give it up as hopeless--the duke tries to console his youngest daughter that he'll get her another mother--the youngest daughter comes up with the solution to the problem. Absolutely enchanting. I'm hoping to be able to share this book with my grandchildren.