Lulu may only be a little dog, but she has lots of BIG ideas. She also has enthusiasm and buckets of joie de vivre, and lives with a bunch of great friends in Wagtail Town. It’s the day of the school cake competition and Lulu enlists her best buddy, Alfie, to help make what Lulu is convinced will be the winning cake.
But Lulu has not made a cake before and things don’t go quite according to plan. How will Lulu deal with not coming first? What will Lulu learn about herself? Are there really things more important than winning? This doggy tale all about friendship, about not letting disappointment embitter you, and about how we’ve all got different strengths is delightful, witty, and delicious. Lulu and the Best Cake Ever by Emma Chichester Clark is a real joy to read, and read again.
Bubbly Lulu is a gorgeous character. Full of pep and good humour, her happy approach to life is infectious. Children are bound to also enjoy the supporting cast of doggy pals, from Otto (who collects beetles) to Bonnie (aka Miss Messy); there’s a character for everyone to adopt as their favourite.
Wagtail town looks like a cross between a 1950s dream resort and Babar’s Celesteville, a destination with a definite fairy-tale quality, where houses are brightly coloured and unusually shaped, where lawns are beautifully manicured, flower borders abound, and the central public park has gushing fountains, palm trees and a timeless elegance. Although bubblegum and candyfloss colours abound, the book never veers into sentimentality; joy and jokes keep this book on the delightful side of sweetness. Plenty of word play (eg a hairdresser’s called Shampoodles, a clothes’ shop called Peke-a-Boutique and the band, which gets everyone dancing at the end, called The Beagles) and fun details in the illustrations have made this a book I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading and reading again with my kids.
This is the first of a planned series about Wagtail town and I wouldn’t be surprised if an animated version of Wagtail Town is commissioned for TV – I think the cast of characters and fun setting would appeal to a wide audience.
What else could we do, after reading Lulu and the Best Cake Ever, other than attempt to bake our best cake ever? I’ve always been a baker more won over by taste than looks, but I extended myself and made a version of Sweetness and Bite, Wagtail Town’s cake supplies’ and sweetie shop.

I have to say, I’m rather proud of my efforts!
The girls insisted I use some of their plastic dogs for the Wagtail Town Crowd. Here are some of them delivering their cakes to the cake competition.
However nice a cake looks, the best bit always ought to be the eating of it….
… and fortunately it tasted as good as it looked 🙂
Yes. Yum Yum.
Whilst baking and decorating and subsequently eating we listened to:
Other than baking cakes, Lulu and the Best Cake Ever might inspire you and your kids to…
Hopefully reading my post today has inspired you to get baking – on Monday I’ll be revealing a big and exciting project here on the blog that involves children’s literature and food and YOU! Probably the biggest, craziest project I’ve ever undertaken here on the blog…!
se7en
Just so love your cake!!! And your girls look like they are having the time of their lives!!! Wonderful fun!!!
se7en recently posted..Se7en Needs Your Help to Build a Dream…International Book Giving Day…
Julie Hedlund
Wow, I am so far beyond impressed with that cupcake! What fun!
Julie Hedlund recently posted..The Artist’s Way: Week 11 Check-In
Zoe
Thanks Julie. It definitely extended my cake decorating skills! I bake quite a lot, but not normally this sort of thing where looks matter quite as much. But it was great excuse to play with icing and sweets 🙂
Zoe
Thanks Se7en. My girls (and I) always look pretty happy when cake is on the table!
Polly
Oh yum! That’s all there is to say really.
Polly recently posted..More Roald Dahl recipe fun.
choxbox
Gasp. Amazing!
It must be such fun to be your kids!
Library Mice
That is definitely one yummy looking cake!
Library Mice recently posted..International Book Giving Day!
Barbara
I agree with Polly, Yum!
Barbara recently posted..Book Tag!
jama
Yum yum yum! Love this post so much! Your cake is amazing!!
jama recently posted..a little bouquet of color for the winter weary
Zoe
Thank you Jama, O queen of cakes and baking!
carly@learningparade
Zoe, your cake looks fantastic! The little dogs are so cute with all that icing! Added the title to our library list 🙂
carly@learningparade recently posted..FREE GOLDILOCKS BINGO GAME
Zoe
Thanks Carly. The dogs do bring it alive, don’t they!
Anne-Marie
Oh, wow, yum! That cake looks delicious – I don’t suppose you want to make my eldest’s birthday cake next week?! 😉
Anne-Marie recently posted..Happy Birthday, Child-Led Chaos Blog
Zoe
I love baking Anne-Marie, its the decorating that’s never been my thing. Hence this one being quite an adventure for me!
Rasco From RIF » Mid-February Roundup of Children’s Literacy and Reading News is posted!
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sandhya
Alright, Zoe! I’ve heard from Choxbox that you’ve agreed to adopt her:) – count A and me in too!
sandhya recently posted..Of friends and books
Zoe
It’s a deal Sandhya! Welcome to my big family 🙂
Tasha
This is AMAZING! I must get a copy of this book, Milo would love to bake a giant cupcake like this… not sure that it would turn out so well though – my decorating skills are really not that great! I bet your girls adored it! 🙂
Tasha recently posted..One Kiss, One Hug!
Zoe
Thank you Tasha! I’ve never ever done any decorating like this before – it really isn’t my think normally. But I just gave it a go (I used butter icing rather than royal or fondant, simply because we all prefer the taste) and it turned out all right.
Terry Doherty
Yum, Zoe! What fun. and to have found music that goes with it all … dare I say its icing on the cake?!
Terry Doherty recently posted..Reading News & Children’s Literacy Roundup – mid-February
Zoe
Haha Terry! Yes indeed 😉