Customer Reviews

The Duchess Bakes a Cake

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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 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 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.

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.

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.

I checked this book out of the library numerous times as a child and I wish it were in print. The story is quite simple but highly imaginative. It is the music in the poetry that makes this book a delight. This was written before any thought was given to "dumbing down" children's books and the vocabulary is surprisingly advanced. Not only does the Duchess set out to bake "a lovely, light, luscious, delectable cake" but my very favorite line when I was a child was where the Duke exclaims "I fear an improper proportion of leaven has carried our dear Duchess right up to heaven!" The uncomplicated illustrations do a good job of supporting the story.

This is a book I loved as a child and still love. It's about a duchess who decides to surprise her family with a cake, with disasterous and hilarious results. The book fosters a love of kitchen creativity, as well as just being outrageously funny, as everyone blunders in trying to help improve the situation. It is written in verse, and I have read it to children of every age. Several children have told me it is a favorite of theirs, too. I would place this in the top ten books I would buy for children, along with the Curious George books, Dr Seuss, The Wheels on the Bus pop-up book, and Wild Child.

The Dutchess Bakes a Cake was first copyrighted in 1955 and is remembered with fondness by my middle-aged daughters. It concerns a bored medieval duchess with thirteen daughters who--with little cooking experience--makes "A lovely light luscious delectable cake." Unfortunately, the cake rises unimaginably high and leaves the duchess stranded at cloud height. The rest of the book relates the efforts taken to rescue her. The author's playful text and charming illustrations both make this a delightful book.

This was a book I liked as a kid and now love. Its long so not for the very young, but interesting and has a minor but good moral.

Forgotten classic of a cake that rises so much it lifts the titular duchess up into the sky. Luckily her youngest daughter is a bit of a greedy pig, and so has the idea to eat her mother back down again and all is well. Even the cake tastes good, though it's made with dill.

Artwork isn't quite to my style, and it's fairly monochromatic, but the words more than make up for it.