Mark your calenders for the first Saturday in April next year -- this is one of the most fun and delicious annual events in Cleveland!

I was there this past Saturday at Loganberry Books & Strong Bindery and tried to capture with my camera some of the creativity and sugary excitement for everyone in NEO who wasn't there and missed the fun. As stated by Loganberry Books & Strong Bindery: "the only rule is to make edible art that has something to do with books." It was free to enter an edible book in the contest and $3 per person to vote and eat the entries after the prizes were awarded.

My children and I opted for voting and eating rights.

Voters were instructed to choose winners for three catagories: most inspiring, most literary and most delectible. Choosing the winners was quite a challenge. There were some very clever cakes! Such as the "Peter Pancake" a "Cakework Orange," and "Telephone Interview with a Vampire."

One of the edible books I voted for was "Millions of Cats." The cake, covered with cat sugar cookies, was so adorable I will have to read the book! I overheard that its creator stayed up very late hand decorating all the little cats.

A wide range of books were represented; classics like Moby Dick, childrens books such as Peter Rabbit, and horror/fiction such as Interview With a Vampire. It was fun just to see which books inspired people to take to the kitchen . I am still wondering what I might do next year.

The Edible Book Festival  was as much about the love of books as it was about lovely bakery.  I don't think there were many (or maybe even any) professional bakers among the contestants. The competition was friendly, rather than fierce. I tasted many of the cakes and I think most of the bakers used frosting in the can and boxed cake mixes. The grand prize winner was about eight years old. She made a very impressive cake called "Afternoon on the Amazon" complete with a large gummie crocodile.

As you can see from my "after" photos, the edible books were delicious. The kids must have felt like Charlie in the Chocolate factory.

While we eagerly await the next first Saturday in April, stop in and visit Loganberry Books & Strong Bindery -- its a sweet place even without the cakes. The antique furnishings and Arts and Crafts decor make Loganberry Books one of the most beautiful stores around. Loganberry Books carries thousands of new and used books – the selection is amazing, many are out of print and hard to find. The children's books section is the best anywhere! The store is also very browser friendly. There are comfortable places to sit, interesting displays and so many gifts and accessories for the bibliophile. There are also art exhibits and the finest selection of greeting cards I have ever seen.