Awards: Best Picture Book of the Year 1990, by People Magazine

International Reading Association-Children’s Choice Award

Waldenbooks Children’s Book Illustration Award of Excellence, 1990

The High Rise Glorious Skittle Skat Roarious Sky Pie Angel Food Cake

by Nancy Willard, illustrated by Richard Jesse Watson,

Harcourt Brace, 1990

ISBN 0-15-234332-6

ISBN 0-15-201019-X

A girl wants to give her wonderful mother the birthday present she longs for- a High Rise Glorious Skittle Skat Roarious Sky Pie Angel Food Cake. But Great-Grandmother’s secret recipe has been hidden away for decades because of the danger; the cake “is irresistible to man and beast, woman and bird. I fear it may fall into the wrong hands.” Nothing will do but to search through a lifetime of Great-Grandmother’s notebooks for the magic recipe.

Nancy Willard’s extraordinary story and Richard Jesse Watson’s provocative artwork come together in stunning proof that only the flutter of angelic wings can create a truly heavenly cake (and book) perfect for someone you love.

Media Reviews of The High Rise Glorious Skittle Skat Roarious Sky Pie Angel Food Cake:

“Illustrated by Richard Jesse Watson, this children’s book is pure enjoyment for ages 6 and up. (I do so enjoy being recharged by superb children’s books!)”
The Pilot-Southern Pines, NC, 10/1/90

“most exuberant children’s book of 1990...Richard Jesse Watson’s illustrations complement Willard’s warm tale.”
People Magazine, 12/3/90

“Speaking of angels, this book has great ones. They’re the creations of Richard Jesse Watson, and his imaginative handling of seraphim is sure to make anyone smile...Watson’s egg tempera (what else could you use for angel-food cake?) illustrations are something to behold.” Mercury News, 12/90

“Enchanting and inspiring.” The New York Times Book Review, 5/12/91