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Get the most from your reading experience with this Bunny Cakes

Reading Guide

SUMMARY It’s Grandma’s birthday, and Max’s sister Ruby says they are going to make Grandma an angel surprise cake with raspberry-fluff icing. But Max has a better idea: an earthworm birthday cake topped with red-hot marshmallow squirters. Now if only he can figure out a way to add squirters to Ruby’s shopping list…

PURPOSES Reading aloud to children, or reading with beginning readers, can encourage and help children to: • Listen to stories read aloud. • Increase the number of words in their vocabulary. • Discuss the idea of helping a sibling or friend.

THEMES Helping Max wants to help his sister Ruby make a cake for Grandma, but he keeps having accidents. Regardless, Max continues to help Ruby by taking her shopping list to the grocery store to get the ingredients that she needs to make her cake. Perseverance Max wants to make Grandma an earthworm cake with caterpillar frosting and red-hot marshmallow squirters. But he cannot add this special ingredient to his shopping list because he doesn’t know how to write “red-hot marshmallow squirters.” Does Max give up? No, he doesn’t! Max continues to try to communicate with the grocer until he gets what he needs for his cake for Grandma. Birthdays By discovering how Max and his family celebrate birthdays, children are given the opportunity to explore their own experiences with celebrations and birthdays.

• Explain why perseverance is an important quality. • Develop understanding of main events. • Demonstrate increasing levels of engagement.

SUGGESTED VOCABULARY Explain the meaning of these words while reading, and use them in other contexts throughout the day. Earthworm – noun: A long worm that lives in damp soil. Grocer – noun: A person who sells food and other supplies in a store. Flour – noun: Powder made from a grain (especially wheat) that is used in cooking for making bread, cakes, etc. Baked – verb: To cook (food, such as bread and cake) by preparing a dough or batter and cooking it in an oven using heat. Cooled – verb: Somewhat cold; not warm or hot. Buttercream – noun: A soft mixture of butter and sugar that is used as a filling or frosting for cakes. Caterpillar – noun: A small creature that is like a worm with many legs and that changes to become a butterfly or moth. Thrilled – adjective: To be very excited or happy about something. Definitions taken from http://www.merriam-webster.com

2.

SOUND IT OUT For a child who is ready for the challenge, have him or her help you read the title of the book, Bunny Cakes. Use your finger to underline the title, letter by letter, and sound out each letter for/with the child. Pointing to letters while saying their sounds helps children make the connection between letters and sounds.

A MODEL FOR READING Note: Because the pages in Bunny Cakes are not numbered, the “page numbers” provided below are for orientation only and do not directly correspond to numbers in the book. “Page 2” refers to the page where the author begins the story, and the page numbers that follow are provided simply for sequential reference.

Page 2 • Max is making his Grandma an earthworm birthday cake! What would you like to eat, an earthworm cake or an angel cake with raspberry-fluff icing?

Page 3-4 Cover • The title of this book is Bunny Cakes. The author is Rosemary Wells. The author is the person who wrote the book. Rosemary Wells is also the illustrator. An illustrator is a person who draws the pictures in a book. • What do you see on the front cover of the book? • Yes, that’s a little bunny rabbit. What is he doing? • What do you think this book is about? • Have you ever made a cake? • What is your favorite kind of cake? • Let’s see what happens to Max when he tries to make a cake!

• Oh no! What happened? • Have you ever knocked over eggs? Are eggs fragile? Do they break easily? • How do you think Max knocked over the eggs? • What did Ruby write on the shopping list?

Page 5-6 • Max went to the store to buy more eggs, since he broke the eggs in the kitchen. But he also wanted to buy red hot marshmallow squirters! • Does Max know how to write, yet? • Can you read Max’s writing? 3.

Page 7-8

Pages 13-14

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• Max is trying really hard to tell the grocer what he wants, isn’t he? • Why can’t the grocer read Max’s writing? • Have you ever wanted a treat so bad that you could almost taste it? • Do you ever feel like grown-ups can’t understand what you are asking for? When?

What happened when Max bumped the table? What spilled? Have you ever spilled milk? What did Ruby write on the list?

Pages 9-10 • Max keeps trying to buy red hot marshmallow squirters, doesn’t he? • Look at Max’s face. Does he look hopeful that this time the grocer will understand him?

Pages 15-16 • What does the red circle with the line mean? • How do you think that made Max feel? • Do you see someone peaking through the window (on page 16)? Who is it?

Pages 11-12 • Why did Ruby draw a yellow line on the floor? • Was Ruby being mean to Max? Or was she just trying to make her cake the way she wanted? • Have you ever wanted to draw a line so someone couldn’t cross it? 4.

Pages 17-18

Pages 21-22

• Have you ever helped to frost a cake? • Do you see Max in the window? It looks like Ruby gave Max a spoon to taste her raspberry fluff frosting. Yummy!

• Look at Ruby (on page 21) and Max (on page 22). They are both making their cakes for Grandma. Do they both look happy and proud of their cakes? Why do you think they are proud of what they made?

Pages 19-20 • Read the list that Ruby gave Max to take to the grocer. • Did Max finally figured out how to communicate with the grocer? • How did he do that?

Page 23 • Which cake would you eat first? Ways to extend the book • Help the students create a pretend grocery list – using words, pictures, or both. What would they like to put on their list? • Max was finally able to communicate with the grocer by using a drawing. Did you know that some books use pictures as the way to tell a story? They are called graphic novels or comic books. Try creating your own book by using pictures to tell a story, and not words. • Max and Ruby worked very hard on their cakes for Grandma. Have the students draw a picture of the kind of cake they would like to make for a special person in their life.

5.

For you to color!

Read

Read

Bunny Cakes

Bunny Cakes

by Rosemary Wells

by Rosemary Wells

Jumpstctrt

Jumpste~rt

Rec1d for the Record'

Redd for the Record'