So Far Up

Bear and his friends stack up, “Bremen Town Musicians”-style, to reach a cake in a top-floor window. Cumulative text and onomatopoeia (“BOINGA-BOING!”) bring out all the well-executed silliness of the pictures. The animals’ plan fails, of course, but the last spread provides a happy conclusion. The book creates supportive structure for those new to following a simple plot, and the repetition throughout offers wonderful opportunities for adults and very young children to practice making predictions together.–Horn Book


In this pleasing cumulative tale, a cake waits atop a tall tower, and a group of animals collaborates to reach the sweet treat. 
Bear spots the tempting dessert, but how to reach it? Pig’s arrival presents a solution, and page by page, a series of hungry animals arrives to stack themselves higher. The surprising ending in which a child takes the cake from inside the tower feels a tad anticlimactic–those animals went through all those contortions for nothing? However, since the child shares with the group, it’s a tasty enough conclusion. While the repetitive refrain that laments that “the cake is so far up” and the animals “so far down” has a gentle appeal, the playful onomatopoeias that introduce each new animal arrival–“FLIP FLIP FLAP”; “BOINGA-BOING”–are more rambunctious and highly satisfying to read aloud. Thinly lined, digitally rendered illustrations and matte colors are somewhat flat but do emphasize the animals’ silly poses and looks of concentration, and a tall, narrow trim size complements the theme. Strasser’s choice to group the animals and tower on the right page while isolating the next animal to arrive on the left encourages pre-readers to make predictions and read along. Observant toddlers will delight in watching a crow inch across a clothesline to triumphantly grab the cake’s tasty cherry. 
With its enjoyable read-aloud rhythm and animal antics, this board book “takes the cake!” –Kirkus Reviews




This German import takes a simple premise and builds to a satisfying denouement. A “yummy” cake is left sitting high above on a windowsill, and along comes a hungry bear–if only Bear could reach. What follow are a gang of highly determined animals who link together in the hopes of “taking the cake.” Strasser’s use of a single setting and muted colors outlined in black results in a cleanly designed and endearing story of collaboration. –School Library Journal