Journey Cake, Ho!

I drove a few miles and wasted a few dollars in gas to get to the county's largest garage sale of the year. It was hyped up as a huge, huge event. Well, it was. And I immediately felt overstimulated by the crowds and items there, much of it very picked through by the time I showed up. I left spending a mere fifty cents on one item. This book, printed in 1953 and in mint condition. I picked it up because the illustrator is one of my favorites, Robert McCloskey. Of course it's out of print now but the whole thing reminds once again about the tragedy of new books being that old books are no longer read...

The story is a sweet one of hard times ending full circle in sweet redemption. It's one of those great non-PC books where the adults just kick the kids out into the world when they can't afford to feed them anymore. Dear Johnny ends up saving the day though with his runaway journey cake. Enjoy some of these pictures!