A Cake All for Me!

The title--and the cover illustration of an exultant pig flourishing a cake--suggests some of the high spirits and simple pleasures of this rhyming book, as fluffy and sweet as seven-minute frosting. The steps of making the cake follow a counting rhyme: ""One, two, get out the moo./ Three, four, open and pour."" This doesn't work very well once he gets to ""Eleven, twelve, take sugar from the shelf./ Thirteen, fourteen, measuring, sorting."" But Meisel's (Engine, Engine, Number Nine) sunny illustrations of the pig sifting, grating and spattering batter with an electric mixer, beaming beatifically all the while, carry readers through any trip-ups in the text. The pig decides that it would be even more fun to share the cake with friends than to eat all by himself. The appended recipe (and measurement conversion information) will guide kids through making a chocolate-chip cake, to hog or to share. Good thing, because this book will put readers in the mood for a snack. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)