Whopper Cake    by Karma Wilson & Will Hillenbrand Order:  USA  Can Margaret K. McElderry, 2007 (2007) Hardcover      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson As always, Karma Wilson pulls readers right in to her rhythmical rhymes with 'Today is Grandma's birthday, / and Granddad has an itchin' / to bake a whopper chocolate cake / and traumatize the kitchen.' Will Hillenbrand's colorful, expressive and delightfully exaggerated illustrations match the poetry perfectly. Though Grandma - in her sweet Southern dialect - tells him not to bother, Granddad gets going to 'make a WHOPPER cake', watched in bemusement by the family pooches. Kids and adults alike will laugh at his extreme use of ingredients and the mess that results (most women will wince too!) Since the mixing bowl's too small, Granddad presses the pickup bed into service, he stirs everything up with an oar from the fishing boat ... and on the saga goes. Frosting the cake (with shovels) becomes a community event, and then the crowd awaits Grandma (who's been mercifully doing errands while all the tomfoolery went on). It ends on an amusing note, and though that whopper of a cake is loaded with sugar, Grandma - and Granddad's - interaction is the sweetest of all. There's even a recipe at the back, to bake your own. Whopper Cake is feverish fun, not to be missed! Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Kids books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews