Chocolate Cake

Product Information

We don’t have round cake pans (I used a 9×13 rectangular baking dish instead) and I’m not sure what chocolate butter frosting is. I have been able to be a part of many lessons where this poem has been used and each and every time it captivates the children. The story is about a little boy (a little Michael Rosen really) sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night, when everyone else is fast asleep, to look at a big chocolate cake his mum has made… and then, of course, he’s unable to resist having a few crumbs… and then a bit more… until the whole cake is gone! Then he ends up trying to sneakily get little bits of it and ends up eating the whole cake and gets in trouble the next morning with his mum.

His mum would bake up a storm, making the most amazing chocolate cakes and if Michael was lucky, he'd get a slice in his school lunchbox if there was any left over. Our list includes some of the world’s favourite authors, illustrators and licensed brands, such as Eric Carle, Helen Oxenbury, Nadia Shireen, The Snowman, Doctor Who, Roald Dahl, Tom Fletcher, Jeff Kinney, Rick Riordan, Robin Stevens, and Jacqueline Wilson to name but a few. Michael Rosen’s stories are often inspired by his own life, and anyone reading Chocolate Cake definitely gets the impression that he might be drawing from his own childhood in this tale of the irresistible cake.Waldron’s comedic caricatures bring the original poem to life in a unique and hilarious way, filling familiar sounding scenes with surprising detail to spot in-between verses. This part was tricky as the cake is quite crumbly, and the icing quite firm so the results here aren’t exactly professional – but hey, sprinkles!

The list of ingredients is long and the items are hard to come by, so the pair has to work through some obstacles together to have the cake in the oven before the storm arrives. It could be used in technology as children could bake a chocolate cake, and look at recipes and their features, which could also be done with KS2 children. However, I don't think anything can compare to actually listening to and watching Michael Rosen performing this poem aloud! Michael Rosen, a recent British Children’s Laureate, has written many acclaimed books for children, including WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and I’M NUMBER ONE and THIS IS OUR HOUSE, both illustrated by Bob Graham.

Michael Rosen is hilarious (as per usual) and we can all relate to chocolate related self control issues. We’ve been huge fans of his fiction books for children, which include We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and Chocolate Cake. Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until there are no lumps and the batter is smooth.