Bake Babushka!

PreS-Gr 1—The narrator of this rhyming story calls herself a "bad babushka" because she forgot the cherries for her husband Ivan's birthday cake (Clafushka). She sends him off with his long ladder to fetch some post haste. The traditionally dressed Russian dolls have fixed expressions but flexible limbs, which come in handy when Ivan is hit by a car while crossing the road with the cherries. His true love puts him back together again, if a little worse for wear. Babushka exclaims, "By putting that piece there/with this piece here…/I've made/Ivan reappear." Despite the setbacks, she is able to make a fine birthday cake and is now a "proud babushka," and Ivan is delighted. The end pages of the book include the recipe for the French dessert this cake is based on: Clafoutis. The flat, graphic-style illustrations are done in predominantly red, oranges, and browns with black accents and are clearly played for laughs.