This was a story about sticking to your dreams no matter what obstacles might be in your way. John Applefeller had plenty of obstacles. His apple desserts kept turning into other things like apple french toast became knee pads used by the Olympics teams, his apple souffle became a hot air balloon, and his apple pancake became a great trampoline. He has come in last at the Worldwide Dessert Contest ten years in a row. Only his belief in the importance of desserts and the support of his young friend Stanley keep him going. Oh, and he would also like to win the Silver Spoon trophy.All of the characters were quirky from the judge who invented sugars and could identify the sugars in each dessert with just a taste to the judge who had one of Applefeller's failures - a caramel apple that turned to a glue - stuck to his face (which, by the way, I found really disturbing because of my personal horror at having things stuck to me). The villain of the piece is Sylvester S. Sweet who had an ego that will not quit and a very shifty nature. He has won the contest ten years in a row with a dessert called double-chocolate-fudge-raspberry-coconut-lime swirl. No one knows that he stole the recipe from Captain B. Rollie Ragoon.Even Applefeller's supporters were quirky. Josiah Benson, the janitor at the apple festival, used a huge variety of weird metaphors and similes "Well, cover me with lettuce and throw me to the rabbits!" Benson exclaimed, pulling on his beard with short frantic tugs. "It's beautiful! As beautiful as a flock of skippin' horsetoads!Applefeller's other main supporter Captain B. Rollie Ragoon took his dessert making genius to the island of Iambia and now he only speaks in rhyme. The only characters in the book who even approach normal are Applefeller and his young companion Stanley. This was a over-the-top silly story that reminded me of Roald Dahl at his quirkiest. I had a chance to read this multimedia edition which was enhanced by songs from the musical that the author wrote. The songs were cute and did enhance the experience. I recommend this one for fans of "silly" and for those who like Roald Dahl.
