Bright Horizons Book Review: Mud is Cake is a beautiful tribute to a child's imagination: a rainy day book, a bedtime delight, or a book for all those dreamy times when you let your imagination run wild. "You can be most anything in dreams or wide awake, if you agree that juice is tea…if you believe that mud is cake." This is a wonderful, whimsical book for preschoolers (and parents) where a brother and sister imagine costumes as their toy animals come to life. Pam Muñoz Ryan's rhyming text establishes a gentle cadence that complements David McPhail's large, captivating illustrations — vibrant water-colors that have an appealing softness. Ages 4-8.

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Product Description

A brother and sister find that when they use their imagination mud can become cake and they themselves can become almost anything.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #808079 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-01
• Released on: 2002-02-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 40 pages

Amazon.com Review
If you can make yourself believe that mud is cake, then anything goes! Pam Munoz Ryan (Esperanza Rising) and illustrator David McPhail pay tribute the power of imagination in this lovely rhyming picture book populated with Maurice Sendak-style kids and the wild things they conjure from everyday objects. "Mud is cake / if you pretend / and don't really take a bite. / And juice is tea / with a fairy queen / if you act it out just right." A rainy, storybook kind of morning produces the mud (and the rainbow) that set the stage for an exciting afternoon of pretending. In the mind's eye, children's toys transform themselves into life-sized animals, "And a tree is spaceship / if you trust / that it can fly away." McPhail's color-drenched watercolors lend themselves well to flights of fancy in this dreamy bedtime read-aloud. (Ages 3 to 5) --Karin Snelson

From Publishers Weekly
In the opening illustration in this winsome tome, a mother reads to her two children as their stuffed animals look on and rain falls outside. Then, as a rainbow fills the sky, the siblings play in a mud puddle while their toy menagerie watches from the front stoop. On subsequent spreads, McPhail (Mole Music) transforms the toys into life-size animals that help the youngsters demonstrate how imagination can turn the ordinary into the fanciful or the fantastical. As Ryan's (Esperanza Rising) lilting, rhyming narrative chimes in, the artwork creates a subtle subplot: the children serve cake and tea to a bear king and an elephant queen, "Mud is cake if you pretend and don't really take a bite. And juice is tea with a fairy queen if you act it out just right." Flips of the pages reveal the cheerful characters using a porch as a stage, a stick as a magic wand, a cardboard box as a tree house, a bathtub as a boat, etc. The large-scale, softly focused ink-and-watercolor pictures evoke an old-fashioned charm that neatly matches the verse's timeless theme, condensed in the closing words: "You can be most anything in dreams, or wide-awake. If you agree that juice is tea... if you believe that mud is cake." The book's gentle tone and dream-inspiring potential makes it a fine choice for lazy rainy days and bedtime. Ages 2-5.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
reSchool-K-The world of a child's imagination is revealed through rhyming verse and fanciful art. Examples include "Porch is stage when you imagine thunderous applause" and "tree is spaceship if you trust that it can fly away." Children will recognize the many different situations as games they themselves have played. Many parents will find their children wanting to act out the scenes illustrated in the book. McPhail's soft and whimsical watercolor paintings illustrate the characters' imaginary play in a very appealing manner. The art shows the same boy and girl with a variety of animals that join in the fun throughout the story. One verse refers to a book as a door to escape into places you've never been. The picture of jungle animals escaping from its pages is enchanting. An excellent choice for storytimes or one-on-one sharing.
Sheilah Kosco, Rapides Parish Library, Alexandria, LA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

Make Believe and Let's Pretend.....
"Mud is cake/if you pretend/and don't really take a bite./And juice is tea/with a fairy queen/if you act it out just right." Pam Munoz Ryan takes us into the charming world of child's make believe in this gentle and whimsical picture book. A box can be a hideout, and a stick is a wand. A tree is a spaceship, your tub is a boat and the "couch is a store when you display a variety of shoes." And you can be a tiger, prowling and growling, or a kitten, curled on someone's lap, a hero, or a champion, or even the one who runs away, if you want. David McPhail's captivating, bright and colorful illustrations complement the text beautifully and engage the reader. Together word and art send a simple message: Let your imagination run free and have fun. "You can be most anything/in dreams, or wide-awake./If you agree that juice is tea.../...if you believe/that mud is cake." Perfect for preschoolers, Mud Is Cake is a sweet and simple, timeless treasure that little ones will want to read and act out again and again. "

Pairs a fun rollicking rhyme with classic paintings
Pam Munoz Ryan's Mud Is Cake pairs a fun rollicking rhyme with classic paintings by McPhail. The rhyme also helps kids think about words and alternate meanings they represent.

Especially suitable for parent/child bedtime reading
A truly delightful picturebook recommended for beginning readers age 2-5, Mud Is Cake features a series of whimsical metaphors by Pam Munoz Ryan, which are brought to life through David McPhail's gentle, playful color illustrations. The power of belief and using one's imagination are central to Mud is Cake, which is a brief, simple, and enjoyable treat -- and especially suitable for parent/child bedtime reading.