Blake the Snake Bakes a Cake

Readers’ first glimpse of the eponymous protagonist brims with comedic promise—Blake’s mouth lolls open in deep sleep, a teddy bear nestled in one crook of the character’s long green body. Then Blake wakes with a start. There’s “lots at stake” as the snake tries—and tries—to achieve a culinary goal: whipping up a birthday cake for a friend’s party. The title serves as a refrain, and rhyming text leans way into the -ake sound throughout the project’s iterations. For each cake, something goes wrong with the baking process (a “mistake” around a toppled mixing bowl, an “EARTHQUAKE!” that rattles the entire kitchen) or the transport (a rake hits Blake in the face outside the front door; a cake falls into a lake). While married collaborators the Youngs (Mustache Duckstache) lean into heartache for poor Blake, the mayhem does have an upside: each time the snake starts over, readers get to view an elaborately executed new cake concept. By the time a triumphant Blake arrives at pal Drake’s party, the dessert is a flower-festooned affair worthy of The Great British Bake Off. Digital watercolors take the cake with their high-energy slapstick in a laugh-out-loud story that remains sympathetic to its resilient protagonist. Ages 3–5. (Mar.)