Bound To Stay Bound

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School Library Journal - 01/01/1997 PreS-Gr 1--For Grandma's birthday, Max makes an earthworm cake while Ruby decides to go all out with an angel surprise cake with raspberry-fluff icing. Max wants to help but instead knocks the ingredients off the counter one by one. Thus, with a list from Ruby in hand, he makes repeated trips to the store. He also tries to buy Red-Hot Marshmallow Squirters for his own cake, but the grocer can't read his colorful scribbles. It's not until the fourth and final trip that silent Max discovers the power of representational drawing. In the end, Grandma is satisfyingly thrilled with both of her cakes. This deceptively simple story touches on several ideas, from birthdays and baking to making lists and shopping. More importantly, it shows two independent, self-assured youngsters accomplishing individual, age-appropriate goals. Ruby and Max have a wonderful sibling relationship; Ruby tells Max just what not to do, and Max does just what he wants and neither one gets mad. Despite the repeated mishaps, they remain undaunted and refreshingly cheerful. Vibrant ink-and-watercolor art and a clean, effective layout focus readers' attention on the action at hand and on the irresistible, busy, rabbit characters. Wells continues to speak directly to young children.--Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI - Copyright 1997 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 01/01/1997 *Starred Review* Wells has that rare ability to tell a funny story for very young children with domestic scenes of rising excitement and heartfelt emotion, and with not one word too many. Some of the recent Max stories have been a bit convoluted, but this fourteenth book about the determined small rabbit and his bossy older sister is rooted in elemental childhood scenarios: playing in mud, baking a cake, making a list, planning a gift, showing who you are. As in Max's First Word (1979), there's a deliciously satisfying reversal; in fact, there's a reversal on almost every page. It's hard to summarize the story: every word matters, every picture extends the confrontation.Max makes an earthworm cake for Grandma's birthday, but Ruby says no, they are going to make an angel surprise cake with raspberry fluff icing. Max wants to help, but Ruby tells him not to touch anything. Too late--the eggs fall on the ground. So Ruby sends Max to the store with a list that says EGGS. Max wants Red-Hot Marshmallow Squirters for his earthworm cake, so he adds that to the list, but the grocer can't read Max's writing, and he gives Max only eggs. Is Max's clumsiness in the kitchen deliberate? He smiles beatifically as he bumps the table and the milk falls, then the flour; Ruby gets more and more uptight, her eyes squinched together. Still, his frustration is almost unbearable: each time, he tries so hard to write Marshmallow Squirters; and each time, the kindly grocer sees only Ruby's order and Max's scribble. As Ruby finishes up her cake, Max has to stay outside, but it's Ruby's face we see peering through the wire mesh and bars of the kitchen screen door, shut inside. Very satisfied with her creation, Ruby sends Max to buy some cake decorations, and this time he has an idea: he draws a picture of those Marshmallow Squirters. He races to the store, and, at last, the grocer understands. Then, while Ruby adds her final elaborate adornments--birthday candles, silver stars, sugar hearts, buttercream roses--Max goes outside and puts caterpillar icing and Red-Hot Marshmallow Squirters on his earthworm cake. In the final scene, Grandma, elegant in a purple hat with pink roses, is thrilled. She looks at both big cakes, and she doesn't know which one to eat first. Eat is the word. (Reviewed January 1 & 15, 1997) - Copyright 1997 Booklist.

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