about the book
When Mouse bakes a special cake for Little Bird’s birthday, delivering the cake proves to be a difficult task. Everyone he meets along the way wants a piece, and they offer to trade some tantalizing things for it. Squirrel, Chicken, Cow, and Bear offer Mouse a cork, wire, a net, and a flyswatter.
And you know what? Mouse takes their offers. Now he has all those things, but no cake. He feels sorry when he gets to Little Bird’s place, but Little Bird is a really good friend, and knows just what to do: Keep trading!
Eventually, they get enough ingredients to make another cake, and all is well.
about the author/illustrator
You could say LeUyem Pham is very lucky. When she was just one, she and her family just barely made it out of Vietnam at the chaotic end of the war. Her father was a CIA translator and would have been imprisoned or worse if they had stayed. The family ended up in Temple City, California.
Her parents wanted LeUyen to be lawyer, so she studied political science at UCLA. Luckily, the head of the art department saw some of her doodling. He helped her win a scholarship to the prestigious Art Center College of Design.
While taking classes, LeUyen attended a presentation by Dreamworks, which led to another piece of luck…overhearing an executive of the company give his phone number to someone else! She tricked her way into an interview with that executive and won an internship that led to a full time job.
When another piece of luck brought her art to the attention of a publisher, LeUyen was given a cover of a book to design—which led to a full time career illustrating more than thirty children’s books.
While traveling the world, LeUyen got lost and then found her way in Africa, met the Pope three times, and visited five continents. In France she had her best piece of luck. She stumbled across another ex-Dreamworks artist, Alex Puvilland. The two fell in love and were married. Along with their two sons, they make their home in San Francisco.
Sources:
Illustrator website
Illustrator biography : The Noe Valley Voice
Also by LeUyen Pham:
Hillary Rodham Clinton : Some Girls Are Born to Lead by Michelle Markel. Balzer + Bray. 2016.
There’s No Such Thing As Little. Knopf Books for Young Readers. 2015.
Mama Seeton’s Whistle by Jerry Spinelli. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 2015.
The Twelve Days of Christmas. Doubleday. 2014.
Vampirina Ballerina Hosts a Sleepover by Anne Marie Pace. Hyperion Press. 2013.
A Stick Is an Excellent Thing : Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play by Marilyn Singer. Clarion. 2012.
Vampirina Ballerina by Anne Marie Pace. Hyperion Press. 2012.
Freckleface Strawberry : Best Friends Forever by Julianne Moore. Bloomsbury USA Children’s. 2011.
The Best Birthday Party Ever by Jennifer LaRue Huget. Schwartz & Wade. 2011.
Shoe-La-La! by Karen Beaumont. Scholastic. 2011.
Bedtime for Mommy by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Bloomsbury USA Children’s. 2010.
All the Things I Love about You. Balzer + Bray. 2010.
Aunt Mary’s Rose by Douglas Wood. Candlewick Press. 2010.
Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully by Julianne Moore. Bloomsbury USA Children’s. 2009.
Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio. Hyperion Press. 2008.
Big Sister, Little Sister. Hyperion Books for Children. 2005.
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