The Cake and the Rain

The Cake and the Rain
Author: Jimmy Webb
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2017-04-18
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1466862572

"Novelistic, perfectly plotted and quite possibly the best pop-star autobiography yet written." - The Wall Street Journal Jimmy Webb’s words have been sung to his music by a rich and deep roster of pop artists, including Glen Campbell, Art Garfunkel, Frank Sinatra, Donna Summer and Linda Ronstadt. He’s the only artist ever to win Grammy Awards for music, lyrics, and orchestration, and his chart-topping career has, so far, lasted fifty years, most recently with a Kanye West rap hit and a new classical nocturne. Now, in his first memoir, Webb delivers a snapshot of his life from 1955 to 1970, from simple and sere Oklahoma to fast and fantastical Los Angeles, from the crucible of his family to the top of his longed-for profession. Webb was a preacher’s son whose father climbed off a tractor to receive his epiphany, and Jimmy, barely out of his teen age years, sank down into the driver’s seat of a Cobra to speed to Las Vegas to meet with Elvis. Classics such as “Up, Up and Away”, “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”, “Wichita Lineman”, “Galveston”, “The Worst that Could Happen”, “All I Know”, and “MacArthur Park” were all recorded by some of the most important voices in pop before Webb’s twenty-fifth birthday: he thought it was easy. The sixties were a supernova, and Webb was at their center, whipsawed from the proverbial humble beginnings into a moneyed and manic international world of beautiful women, drugs, cars and planes. That stew almost took him down—but Webb survived, his passion for music and work among his lifelines. The Cake and The Rain is a surprising and unusual book: Webb’s talent as a writer and storyteller is here on every page. His book is rich with a sense of time and place, and with the voices of characters, vanished and living, famous and not, but all intimately involved with him in his youth, when life seemed nothing more than a party and Webb the eternal guest of honor.

Thunder Cake

Thunder Cake
Author: Patricia Polacco
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 34
Release: 1990-03-15
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0399222316

A loud clap of thunder booms, and rattles the windows of Grandma's old farmhouse. "This is Thunder Cake baking weather," calls Grandma, as she and her granddaughter hurry to gather the ingredients around the farm. A real Thunder Cake must reach the oven before the storm arrives. But the list of ingredients is long and not easy to find . . . and the storm is coming closer all the time! Reaching once again into her rich childhood experience, Patricia Polacco tells the memorable story of how her grandma--her Babushka--helped her overcome her fear of thunder when she was a little girl. Ms. Polacco's vivid memories of her grandmother's endearing answer to a child's fear, accompanied by her bright folk-art illustrations, turn a frightening thunderstorm into an adventure and ultimately . . . a celebration! Whether the first clap of thunder finds you buried under the bedcovers or happily anticipating the coming storm, Thunder Cake is a story that will bring new meaning and possibility to the excitement of a thunderstorm.

Rain Makes Applesauce (Restored Edition)

Rain Makes Applesauce (Restored Edition)
Author: Julian Scheer
Publisher: Holiday House
Total Pages: 41
Release: 2019-12-10
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0823443612

Featuring a new introduction by Caldecott Medalist Jerry Pinkney, this much-beloved classic has been carefully restored for a new generation. One of TIME's 100 Best Children's Books of All Time! My House goes walking every day... and rain makes applesauce. Oh, you're just talking silly talk! So begins this award-winning collection of nonsense verse and images. A story-hour favorite since it was first published in 1964, this beloved read-aloud has been carefully remastered to bring back the rich, vivid details of its Caldecott Honor-winning artwork. Featuring an introduction by Caldecott Medalist Jerry Pinkney, Rain Makes Applesauce is popular both as a bedtime story and as a go-to title for elementary teachers of creative writing. Created by the unique team of legendary NASA publicist Julian Scheer and illustration master Marvin Bileck, this influential picture book has inspired artists and writers, as well as young children creating their own nonsense stories, for more than 50 years.

Apple Cake: A Gratitude

Apple Cake: A Gratitude
Author: Dawn Casey
Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Total Pages: 30
Release: 2019-09-24
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1786032155

Thank you, hedge, / Thank you, tree. / Thank you, flower, / Thank you, bee. / Thank you, rain, / Thank you, sun. / Thank you, farmers, / every one. In this simple rhyming story from the author of Held in Love, a child says thank you for the gifts nature provides, from hazelnuts in the hedge to apples from the tree, eggs from the hens to milk from the cow. Eventually, the family has enough ingredients to make something special…a delicious apple cake! With captivating illustrations that brim with emotion, this sweet picture book encourages children to be grateful for the world around them—the perfect read for Thanksgiving. A recipe for apple cake at the end allows you and your child to share in the joyful gratitude.

The Cake Tree in the Ruins

The Cake Tree in the Ruins
Author: Akiyuki Nosaka
Publisher: Pushkin Collection
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2019-05-14
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1782274197

Intensely moving stories that tell of the absurd violence of war, and tenderly depict the animals and children caught in its vortex. In 1945, Akiyuki Nosaka watched the Allied firebombing of Kobe kill his adoptive parents, and then witnessed his sister starving to death. The shocking and blisteringly memorable stories of The Cake Tree in the Ruins are based on his own experiences as a child in Japan during the Second World War. They are stories of a lonely whale searching the oceans for a mate, who sacrifices himself for love; of a mother desperately trying to save her son with her tears; of a huge, magnificent tree which grows amid the ruins of a burnt-out town, its branches made from the sweetest cake imaginable. Profound, heartbreaking and aglow with a piercing beauty, they express the chaos and terror of conflict, yet also how love can illuminate even the darkest moment.

Outstanding in the Rain

Outstanding in the Rain
Author:
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015-04-14
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0316381691

New from the creator of New York Times Best-Illustrated book Along a Long Road and A Long Way Away Includes Read-Aloud/Read-to-Me functionality where available. Book Description:Picture book master Frank Viva does it again, this time with astounding book that transform both words and pictures in delightful ways, while telling the story of a young boy spending his birthday at Coney Island, in search of his heart's desire.

Bake a Rainbow Cake!

Bake a Rainbow Cake!
Author: Amirah Kassem
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2020
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9781419737466

On board pages with pull-out tabs, a lift-up flap, a wheel, and a pop-up.

Mud Is Cake

Mud Is Cake
Author: Pam Ryan
Publisher: Hyperion
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2002-04-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9780786805013

Pam Munoz Ryan and David McPhail open the door to the imagination in this lyrical, rhyming picture book. Two young children act, pretend, sing, invent their way into wondrous realms with creativity, charm, and a little does of magic.

Reading with Phonics

Reading with Phonics
Author: Sharon Shepherd
Publisher: R.I.C. Publications
Total Pages: 148
Release: 2009
Genre: English language
ISBN: 1741268583

Two stories for each sound, catering for individual ability levels.