A cumulative tale about the chain of events surrounding the making of a cake by a farmer's wife, eventually leading to its consumption in surprising circumstances.

Max makes an earthworm cake for Grandma's birthday and help 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.

"When Miss Rabbit leaves her carrot cake (with cream-cheese icing) out to cool and returns later to find only a mess of crumbs, she calls Detective Wilcox and Capt. Griswold. Over 100 animals on Ed's farm means there's a lot of suspects. Tongue firmly in cheek, Wilcox tells the story of this challenging case in clipped tones reminiscent of Dragnet."-- Kirkus.

Cake shop owner Rita Lucero agrees to help blind trumpet player Old Dog Leg Magee solve a family mystery, and, while undercover at a bed-and-breakfast with Cajun bartender Gabriel Broussard, finds more than one mystery to solve.

While a boy and his parents go for an outing, little people invade the house and use their big construction equipment to bake a cake.

Red Hen finds a recipe for a Simply Splendid Cake and asks her friends the cat, the rat, and the frog to help with the preparations. But it seems as though her friends want no part in the cake until it's ready to eat. Will they decide to pitch in, or let Red Hen do all of the hard work?