The Poppy Seed Cakes is a beloved children's classic first published in 1924: eight charming and humorous linked stories about little Andrewshek and his Auntie Katushka, with colorful woodcuts by Caldecott Award-winning illustrators Maud and Miska Petersham.

 

Auntie Katushka has just come from the Old Country, bringing poppy seeds to make cakes for a mischief-prone four-year-old boy named Andrewshek. A little neighbor girl named Erminka, who wears red boots that are too big for her, joins Andrewshek for a series of adventures with talking animals including a greedy goose who steals the cakes; a naughty white goat who hides on the roof; and a kitten, a dog, and two chickens who are determined to crash the children's tea party. There is art on every page, featuring mischievous animals and gooseberry tarts, colorful shawls and Russian dolls, and cheerful Auntie Katushka in her kerchiefed and aproned splendor.