《蛋糕逃跑啦！》封面
这是个读起来有些荒诞却特别欢快的故事——
《蛋糕逃跑啦！》内页
在顶呱呱山一侧，住着一对老年夫妇和帮工男孩吕行。原本，他们的世界静谧又美好，直到——家里的动物全部没了。老奶奶和老爷爷决定让吕行去找新的东家，过上好一点儿的日子。
吕行临走前，老奶奶特意为他准备了旅行蛋糕。当吕行开始他旅程，蛋糕骨碌碌地逃跑了。一路上，吕行和蛋糕经过了各个地方，所过之处的动物们不断加入追逐蛋糕的队伍…… 吕行带回了一大群动物，老爷爷老奶奶高兴坏了。生活重新恢复了静谧，他们拥抱、唱歌、庆祝。原来，生活处处都充满着转机，谁说不是呢？
《蛋糕逃跑啦！》内页
故事里最好玩的人物大概就是男孩帮工吕行——对的，读音与旅行相同！所以旅行蛋糕最后就会变成吕行蛋糕！这位吕行是一位怎样的人物呢？
说起来，这是个特别乐天派的男孩，不管遇到怎样的事情，都好像可以继续吹口哨，左脚、右脚、左脚……跳着走路。直到那天他仅剩的口粮——旅行蛋糕逃跑啦！是的，到这里我们可能才发现，原来这个故事真正的主角是一个圆溜溜的旅行蛋糕！
《蛋糕逃跑啦！》内页
逃得这么欢的蛋糕能追回来吗？怎么才能追回来呢？追不回来会饿肚子吗？——别担心，这是个特别圆满的故事。作者讲得很圆，插画家画得也很圆。留意到了吧，这本书的画面中从头到尾，都有圆圈，蛋糕逃跑到最后，还在转圈圈……
《蛋糕逃跑啦！》内页
不信你看，连最后分这个蛋糕吃，画面中也有好多圆——
《蛋糕逃跑啦！》内页
如此圆满的故事，读起来相当欢快，故事带有浓重的传统民间故事风味儿，穿插着童谣的语言，不断重复，情节层层叠加，直到最后带来惊喜的大团圆。
特别有喜感的是，这本书还是 金奖女婿与金奖岳母的创作组合！！！——女婿是两度凯迪克金奖得主罗伯特·麦克洛斯基，岳母是1937年纽伯瑞金奖得主露丝·索耶。
露丝·索耶
先说作者露丝·索耶吧，1880–1970，非常高寿的一位女性，是美国著名的故事人、童书作家，也曾担任过教师。她是一位特别擅长讲故事，也擅长写故事的创作者。她还有一个专长，就是收集、整理、重述民间故事，这种能力与格林兄弟相仿。不过令她声名远播的，还是1937年获得纽伯瑞金奖的儿童小说《轮滑女孩露辛达》。
不过，《蛋糕逃跑啦！》（Journey Cake, Ho!）这个故事的诞生还是得益于她整理和重述民间故事的能力，故事的前身很可能出自约瑟夫·雅各布斯的《英国童话集》中的Journey Cake，文后附上这篇经典英语童话的原文供比较。
原版《英国童话集》封面
另外，有心的读者还可以从这个故事中读到经典童话《金鹅》《姜饼人》《煎饼》故事的影子。比如在《金鹅》中，一连串追着金鹅跑的人都黏在了一起，而《姜饼人》和《煎饼》都是食物逃跑的故事，最后落入了狡猾的狐狸或猪的嘴里。文后也附上《人类的100个永不熄灭的故事》中的《煎饼》故事供比较。
露丝·索耶编写的这个《蛋糕逃跑啦！》的故事，将背景设在了美国的山区，主人公吕行带有传统民间故事中“傻瓜”的色彩，这种“傻瓜”其实就是整天乐呵呵的乐天派，没有心机，只是快乐地凭直觉行事，但总是“傻人有傻福”。与前面列举的那些民间故事相比，露丝的这个故事是最圆满最欢快的！
罗伯特·麦克洛斯基
再说绘者罗伯特·麦克洛斯基（1914–2003），也挺长寿的，这一位图画书大师创作的作品不太多，但得奖率很高，总共获得两次凯迪克金奖和三次凯迪克银奖。看看他的获奖作品吧，有没有你读过且喜欢的——
金奖作品《让路给小鸭子》
金奖作品《美好时光》
银奖作品《海边的早晨》
银奖作品《小塞尔采蓝莓》
是不是每一本都很经典？这里面《让路给小鸭子》可能是最受欢迎的，因为这本书麦克洛斯基有了一些积蓄，可以到缅因州的鹿岛去置业，过着艺术家的隐居生活。《小塞尔采蓝莓》取材于他们一家在那里的生活，小塞尔就是他的大女儿，塞尔的妈妈也原样画进了那本书里，其原型是就是露丝·索耶的女儿玛格丽特。塞尔后来有了一个妹妹，在《海边的早晨》里可以看到，妹妹大一些后，可以与塞尔一起驾帆船在鹿岛一带自由地玩耍，她俩的故事就在《美好时光》一书中。——想想看，因为得了凯迪克金奖，就有钱隐居在那么美的地方，然后将隐居生活画成书，又继续拿金奖、银奖！天下哪有这么好的事情？！不得不说，罗伯特·麦克洛斯基很有福气。
小小八卦一下，为什么罗伯特会成为露丝·索耶的女婿？他俩怎么会有机会合作？这肯定与他们共同的编辑梅·马西有关。想知道这位传奇编辑的故事，可以读一读《图画书小史》的相关部分。
传奇编辑梅·马西
熟悉罗伯特·麦克洛斯基绘画风格的读者可能会觉得《蛋糕逃跑啦！》这本书有点不像他画的，我们可以比较一下《让路给小鸭子》的画风——
《让路给小鸭子》专色内页
《蛋糕逃跑啦！》内页
《蛋糕逃跑啦！》是麦克洛斯基创作的作品中比较罕见的版画风格，大概只有这样才能让故事显得特别老旧，配合露丝·索耶的仿旧的民间故事趣味。据说，创作这本书对麦克洛斯基来说也是一次挑战，从结果来看，他的挑战非常成功！
有些荒诞的欢快故事加上颇为夸张的欢快画面构成了这本欢快的经典。
更多相似的好玩的故事版本——
《金鹅》——尤里·舒利瓦茨重述版本
《姜饼人》
挪威民间故事《煎饼》（出自《人类的100个永不熄灭的故事》）
挪威民间故事《煎饼》
英国民间故事 Johnny-Cake
英文原文如下：
Johnny-Cake
Once upon a time there was an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy. One morning the old woman made a Johnny-cake, and put it in the oven to bake. “You watch the Johnny-cake while your father and I go out to work in the garden.” So the old man and the old woman went out and began to hoe potatoes, and left the little boy to tend the oven. But he didn’t watch it all the time, and all of a sudden he heard a noise, and he looked up and the oven door popped open, and out of the oven jumped Johnny-cake, and went rolling along end over end, towards the open door of the house. The little boy ran to shut the door, but Johnny-cake was too quick for him and rolled through the door, down the steps, and out into the road long before the little boy could catch him. The little boy ran after him as fast as he could clip it, crying out to his father and mother, who heard the uproar, and threw down their hoes and gave chase too. But Johnny-cake outran all three a long way, and was soon out of sight, while they had to sit down, all out of breath, on a bank to rest.
On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to two well-diggers who looked up from their work and called out: “Where ye going, Johnny- cake?”
He said: “I’ve outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and I can outrun you too-o‑o!”
“Ye can, can ye? we’ll see about that?” said they; and they threw down their picks and ran after him, but couldn’t catch up with him, and soon they had to sit down by the roadside to rest.
On ran Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to two ditch-diggers who were digging a ditch. “Where ye going, Johnny-cake?” said they. He said: “I’ve outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and I can outrun you too-o‑o!”
“Ye can, can ye? we’ll see about that!” said they; and they threw down their spades, and ran after him too. But Johnny-cake soon outstripped them also, and seeing they could never catch him, they gave up the chase and sat down to rest.
On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a bear. The bear said: “Where are ye going, Johnny-cake?”
He said: “I’ve outrun an old man, and an old woman and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, and I can outrun you too- o‑o!”
“Ye can, can ye?” growled the bear, “we’ll see about that!” and trotted as fast as his legs could carry him after Johnny-cake, who never stopped to look behind him. Before long the bear was left so far behind that he saw he might as well give up the hunt first as last, so he stretched himself out by the roadside to rest.
On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a wolf. The wolf said:– “Where ye going, Johnny-cake?” He said: “I’ve outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two ditch- diggers and a bear, and I can outrun you too-o‑o!”
“Ye can, can ye?” snarled the wolf, “we’ll see about that!” And he set into a gallop after Johnny-cake, who went on and on so fast that the wolf too saw there was no hope of overtaking him, and he too lay down to rest.
On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a fox that lay quietly in a corner of the fence. The fox called out in a sharp voice, but without getting up: “Where ye going Johnny-cake?”
He said: “I’ve outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, a bear, and a wolf, and I can outrun you too-o‑o!”
The fox said: “I can’t quite hear you, Johnny-cake, won’t you come a little closer?” turning his head a little to one side.
Johnny-cake stopped his race for the first time, and went a little closer, and called out in a very loud voice “I’ve outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, and a bear, and a wolf, and I can outrun you too-o- o.”
“Can’t quite hear you; won’t you come a little closer?” said the fox in a feeble voice, as he stretched out his neck towards Johnny-cake, and put one paw behind his ear.
Johnny-cake came up close, and leaning towards the fox screamed out: I’VE OUTRUN AN OLD MAN, AND AN OLD WOMAN, AND A LITTLE BOY, AND TWO WELL-DIGGERS, AND TWO DITCH-DIGGERS, AND A BEAR, AND A WOLF, AND I CAN OUTRUN YOU TOO-O‑O!”
“You can, can you?” yelped the fox, and he snapped up the Johnny-cake in his sharp teeth in the twinkling of an eye.
——出自约瑟夫·雅各布斯的《英国童话集》