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Children's

“Game of Scones” and Other Delightfully Edible Books

Derek Attig

Staff Writer

Derek works in graduate student career development and is (believe it or not) one of the world's foremost experts on the history of bookmobiles. Follow Derek on Twitter @bookmobility and on Instagram @bookmobility.

Every year, around April 1, libraries and community groups around the world celebrate Edible Book Day. The main feature of the celebration is usually a lighthearted competition in which contestants use mostly edible materials to evoke popular books.

Contestants approach this tasty task in a variety of ways. There are the more straightforward (though often gorgeous) ones, which recreate the physical form of the books themselves:

Dr Seuss by Heather Hinsley (Edible Books)

Dr Seuss Books, by Heather Hinsley (photo from MaryEllenLongArt.blogspot.com)

Mr JW Lewin by Richard Neville (Edible Books)

Mr JW Lewin: Painter & Naturalist, by Richard Neville (from the Edible Books Festival at the State Library at New South Wales, Australia; photo by Simon Leong)

Then there are some that take a somewhat more roundabout path, combining themes and tropes in fun, edible ways:

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Amy Sponsler (Edible Books)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Amy Sponsler (from the University of Illinois’s Edible Books Festival)

Farmer's Almanac by Karen Hewitt (Edible Books)

Farmer’s Almanac, by Karen Hewitt (from the University of Illinois Edible Books Festival)

And then there are the puns. Oh, the puns! This seems to be most popular approach. The results? Often delightful, if also a little bit groan-worthy:

The Tell Tale Tart by Rachel Weber (Edible Books)

The Tell Tale Tart, by Rachel Weber (from the University of Illinois Edible Books Festival)

Game of Scones by Sarah Schmidt Katie Salerno and Mandi Goodsett (Edible Books)

Game of Scones, by Sarah Schmidt, Katie Salerno, and Mandi Goodsett (from the University of Illinois Edible Books Festival)

The Legend of Sleepy Challah by Valerie and Samuel Hotchkiss (Edible Books)

The Legend of Sleepy Challah, by Valerie and Samuel Hotchkiss (from the University of Illinois Edible Books Festival)

To Grill 2 photo by Cliff Hollis (Edible Books)

To Grill a Mockingbird (photo by Cliff Hollis, from the East Carolina University Edible Books Festival)

The Origin of Reeses by Cath Carine and Suze Woolf (Edible Books)

The Origin of Reeses*, by Cath Carine and Suze Woolf (from the Seattle Edible Books Festival, photo from SeattleTwist.com) *Embarassingly enough, it took me a few minutes to get that this is a play on “On the Origin of Species.” Oops.

Candied by Glen C Davies (Edible Books)

Candied, by Glen C. Davies (from the University of Illinois Edible Books Festival)

So which one is your favorite?

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