{"id":31179,"date":"2018-06-01T22:36:29","date_gmt":"2018-06-02T02:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=31179"},"modified":"2018-06-01T22:36:29","modified_gmt":"2018-06-02T02:36:29","slug":"review-of-the-poppy-seed-cakes-by-margery-clark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=31179","title":{"rendered":"Review of The Poppy Seed Cakes, by Margery Clark"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Poppy Seed Cakes<\/em><\/p>\n

by Margery Clark<\/p>\n

with illustrations by Maud and Miska Petersham<\/p>\n

Everyman\u2019s Library Children\u2019s Classics, 2013. First published 1924. 157 pages.
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

Last year I wrote Project 52<\/a> \u2013 each week reflecting on one year of my life. Which brought back memories. And one of the memories was about which chapter books I read when I was still small, before we moved away from Seattle.<\/p>\n

One of those first chapter books was The Poppy Seed Cakes<\/em>. <\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t read The Poppy Seed Cakes<\/em> in years. But remembering it made me want to get a copy and hold it in my hands and read it over again. So I looked on Amazon and was delighted to find an Everyman\u2019s Classics edition.<\/p>\n

Once the book arrived, I read it immediately. All the pictures and page decorations are there! And I remember every single one and greet them all as old friends. There are many full-page illustrations, alternating between color and black and white. But there are also decorative patterns on each page, with each chapter having its own theme, and the pattern enclosing the text. For example, the chapter \u201cThe White Goat,\u201d has a stylized picture of a goat parading across the top of the page. \u201cErminka and the Crate of Chickens\u201d has chickens across the top, and \u201cThe Picnic Basket\u201d has a goose reaching for a picnic basket.<\/p>\n

The only thing wrong with this book is its bright yellow cover. I\u2019m pretty sure my grandma\u2019s copy was red. And that\u2019s another thing. I\u2019m not so sure any more that I did read this book from the library in Seattle. But I specifically remember reading it at my grandma\u2019s house in Salem, Oregon \u2013 and I think maybe my great-grandmother had a copy as well. (However, that means my mother had read it as a child, so there\u2019s a very good chance she did check it out for me from the library. Which would explain my memory of it as one of the first chapter books I got from the library.)<\/p>\n

I am very sad I didn\u2019t think of ordering this book when my own children were small, because I find it\u2019s a book that begs to be read aloud. In fact, I\u2019ll admit that I read some of it aloud even when sitting in my own home all alone. The phrase \u201cAndrewshek\u2019s Auntie Katushka,\u201d which appears over and over just doesn\u2019t want to remain silent in your head.<\/p>\n

The stories are old-fashioned and quaint \u2013 but do stand the test of time. And the language! First we have stories about Andrewshek and Andrewshek\u2019s Auntie Katushka. Andrewshek\u2019s Auntie Katushka asks him to do something while she is gone \u2013 and Andrewshek consistently chooses to do something else \u2013 with varying results. Though they usually manage to deal with said results.<\/p>\n

Then we have stories about Erminka and her red topped boots. They are her brother’s, and they are too big, so wearing them gets Erminka in trouble more than once.<\/p>\n

At the end of the book, the stories come together when Erminka comes for a tea-party at Andrewshek\u2019s house. With poppy seed cakes.<\/p>\n

All the animals can talk in this book. Each story is child-sized and matter of fact, and the animals are child-like in their responses. Here\u2019s how the last story ends:<\/p>\n

Andrewshek\u2019s Auntie Katushka spread a clean white table cloth on the table under the apple tree in the garden. She brought out two plates of poppy seed cakes and five cups and saucers and five spoons and five napkins. Then she went back into the house to get some strawberry jam.<\/p>\n

The white goat and the kitten and the dog and the two chickens came and sat down on the bench beside the table under the apple tree in the garden. They sat very quiet with their hands folded.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we behave nicely,\u201d said the white goat, \u201cperhaps Andrewshek\u2019s Auntie Katushka will let us join the tea-party.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrewshek\u2019s Auntie Katushka came out on the porch with a bowl of strawberry jam in her hand. She saw the white goat and the kitten and the dog and the two chickens sitting quiet on the bench, with their hands folded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell! Well!\u201d said Auntie Katushka. \u201cSome more friends have come to our tea-party. I hope they will like poppy seed cakes and strawberry jam, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

And they did.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Simple stories and simple concerns, with a happy ending. Though a modern child probably won\u2019t hang out with geese and goats and chickens like Andrewshek and Erminka, they will understand how easy it is to be distracted, the lure of new boots, and the delight of eating poppy seed cakes.<\/p>\n

randomhouse.com\/everymans<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Fiction\/poppy_seed_cakes.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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