From Publishers Weekly
"It's kitchen chaos when Max and Ruby become bunnies who each bake a cake for Grandma's birthday. When it comes to the interplay between pared-down text and eventful illustrations, Wells, quite simply, takes the cake," said PW in a starred review. Ages 3-7. (Feb.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1. Undaunted Max and bossy Ruby, rabbit siblings, make the perfect cakes for grandmother's birthday. A confectionary delight, with layers of laughter. Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Ages 2^-6. 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. Hazel Rochman


From Kirkus Reviews
The famous Max and his sister, Ruby, are the stars of this self-proclaimed brand-name production--A Max & Ruby Picture Book- -but there is no formula here--only extreme originality. To celebrate their grandmother's birthday, Max is constructing an earthworm cake while bossy Ruby declares that a real cake will be made. She begins whipping one up. Max, in the meantime, breaks the eggs, the first in a series of mishaps that lends repetition--the soul of story hours--to the plot. List from Ruby in hand, he is sent to the store each time he destroys an item, and attempts to add (in a preschooler's version of handwriting) his own sought-after ingredient, Red-Hot Marshmallow Squirters. Each time, the grocer understandably cannot read Max's writing; each time Max returns home, he finds that Ruby is attempting to keep accidents to a minimum by keeping him away from her work. At one point, she posts a drawing in which Max appears inside a red circle with a line through it. Wells's ingenuity never flags, not in the brief text nor in the illustrations. Her close-ups of destroyed ingredients and her many ways of showing two children in the same setting suggest she knows her subject well. Ruby's sloping iced cake is a gem, and Max's is grandly icky and visibly worm-infested: ``Grandma was so thrilled, she didn't know which cake to eat first.'' (Picture book. 3-7) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Card catalog description
Max makes an earthworm cake for Grandma's birthday and helps Ruby with her angel surprise cake. At the store, the grocer can't read all of the shopping list, until Max solves the problem by drawing a picture.

ANNOTATION

Max makes an earthworm cake for Grandma's birthday and helps Ruby with her angel surprise cake. At the store, the grocer can't read all of the shopping list, until Max solves the problem by drawing a picture.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In his most hilarious escapade yet, Max learns a invaluable lesson--in his irresistible way! For Grandma's birthday, Max wants to make her an earthworm birthday cake. His sister Ruby is going to make an angel surprise cake with raspberry-fluff icing. When Grandma ends up with two cakes, guess which one she'll eat first? Full color.

FROM THE CRITICS

Sesame Street Parents

The two bunnies are preparing for Grandma's birthday. Max makes and earthworm birthday cake with mud. Ruby begins work on an angel surprise cake with raspberry-fluff icing. Max wants to help his sister, but, somehow, always manages to knock things off the table. Wells's ink-and-watercolor pictures of the siblings are both hilarious and tender. Every younger sib or small member of the family will recognize Max's determination, mischief, and love.

Publishers Weekly

It's kitchen chaos as Wells's beloved Max and Ruby become bunnies who bake. Max and Ruby each have grand plans for Grandma's birthday cake. Max envisions an earthworm cake with caterpillar frosting and "Red-Hot Marshmallow Squirters" on top. Ruby, however, insists on an "angel surprise cake with raspberry-fluff icing." Max tries his best to help his bossy older sister but, as always, winds up making a mess. After spilling the milk or breaking the eggs, Max is repeatedly dispatched to the store with Ruby's neatly printed list of ingredients, all the while trying to figure out how to convey his own request to the grocer. Wells's (My Very First Mother Goose) ink-and-watercolor world is cheery as ever here, replete with a cozy, '50s-esque kitchen and friendly neighborhood market. She accurately captures the prickliness of sibling exchanges ("There's a yellow line on the floor, Max," says Ruby when Max returns with a replacement bottle of milk. "You can't step over that line"). Hapless Max maintains a happy-go-lucky demeanor in any situation, a shining example of patience and perseverance. And when it comes to the interplay between pared-down text and eventful illustrations, Wells, quite simply, takes the cake. Ages 3-7. (Mar.)

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

The irrepressible Max and Ruby are at it again. It is grandma's birthday, and they each want to bake a cake. Max has made an earthworm cake and wants to put Redhot Marshmallow Squirters all over it. Ruby regards his creation with disdain and continues to prepare her angel surprise cake with raspberry-fluff icing. Each time Max tries to help, he creates a mini-disaster in the kitchen and has to go to the store with Ruby's list. Max tries in vain to put squirters on the list, but he doesn't know how to write. In the end, Max succeeds, and grandma is presented with two lovingly created birthday cakes. The illustrations are charming and the page layout, with lots of white space, provides a perfect setting.

Children's Literature - Deborah Zink Roffino

Popular characters Max and Ruby, adorable, jeweled-eyed rabbits, possess that uncanny ability to make everyday activities an adventure. In this bunny tale, they spend a day concocting a couple of birthday cakes for Grandma. This merry book can enhance skills such as communicating, counting, sharing, organization, as well as cooking.

School Library Journal