Sun Bread (Hardcover)

by Elisa Kleven (Author, Illustrator) "Children grumbled in their homes..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Sun, fun and dough are on the rise in this tasty picture book about a baker who helps brighten up her snowbound town. Joy and color have all but disappeared in the midst of a dreary, relentless winter: "The wind it whooshed, the snow it whirled/ / Bare trees shook like chilly bones./ Children grumbled in their homes." But the proprietor of Fiesta Bakery believes she has just the recipe to set things right. With her "loving touch," she fashions a sun-shaped loaf of bread that magically rises and shines, filling the townspeople's stomachs and spirits. The animal citizens' celebration stirs the real sun from its sleep, creating a ripple effect that spreads sunshine and happiness throughout the land. Kleven (Abuela) handles what could have been a sappy theme with a light touch. Her buoyant rhyming text brims with shimmering imagery ("It glittered on the blue-green seas,/ Wove golden ribbons through the trees") and has a consistent, fun-to-read-aloud rhythm. A menagerie of anthropomorphic animals cavorts and nibbles on sun bread in cheerful compositions of paint and collage. A good time (and good food) is had by all, and a recipe for sun bread on the book's jacket invites readers to join the fun. Ages 2-6.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreS-K-A wintry village inhabited by a variety of unlikely creatures is the setting for this rhyming tale about how the efforts of a humble baker restore the sun to a chilled world. Bellicose bears, argumentative monkeys, a lachrymose pig, and a depressed giraffe are among the distressed animals pictured. It's not until the town's baker, an innovative little dog, bakes a smiling bread in the shape of the sun that the residents have reason to rejoice and hope. As they share in the feast, their bodies as well as their spirits are so lightened that they rise into the sky. There they make such a joyful noise that the long-slumbering sun is awakened. The baker somehow intuits that it wants some of his special loaf and the happy villagers share it with the celestial body. Sunlight is restored to the Earth and returns the next day for the little baker's promised sun bread and buns. A recipe is included. This sunny tale is marred by an uneven rhyme scheme and awkward phrasing. The story also suffers from a certain incongruity and lack of logic as well. Why are tropical animals depicted in such an alien environment? Why does the sun want to eat sun bread? Kleven's characteristically charming folk-art-inspired collages far outshine the text in this instance.

Rosalyn Pierini, San Luis Obispo City-County Library, CA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile; 1 edition (May 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525466746
• ISBN-13: 978-0525466741
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 10.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #206,569 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely wonderful. One of my all-time favorites., December 17, 2002

By	Deana (Anacortes, WA) - See all my reviews

What I love best about it is the message - that happiness comes from within. The rhythm is nothing less than intoxicating and the illustrations are beautiful. I'm buying one for every child I know.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, February 10, 2007

By	J. Miller (LA, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is absolutely the best piece of children's writing I've ever read. The rhyme and meter are strong and playful. Kleven teases us with internal rhymes and alliterations. My three year old and I read this all the time.

The basic story line is that, on a cloudy day, a canine baker whips up a magic sun bread recipe that brings out the sun and everyone's joy. The book does to the reader what the bread did to the characters.

My three-year-old daughter and I made the recipe on the back cover, and I have to say it's a disappointment: dry and heavy. I'd halve the butter and maybe beat the egg whites for a lighter texture, but the idea is still great. The mold for the bread is cool too, and it looks happy in the oven.

A definite must-read-to-your-kids.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE JOY OF COOKING SUN BREAD!, July 21, 2001

By	Dorothy Weiss (ORLANDO, FLORIDA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Do your children love animals? How about cookies and bread? This book combines both. A loveable dog is the town baker. To encourage the return of warm weather, he shapes his loaf of bread into a likeness of the sun. The lilting rhymes in the book describe the wonderful aroma and rich, gold, smooth color and texture of the bread with power, sun power. It enticed the sun in the sky to part the clouds, come out shining brightly to behold this luscious bread created by the bakers loving touch. The recipe for sun bread is included in the book as well as colorful illustrations. Ah, the joy of cooking takes on a new meaning. Charming.If you and your children like "Sun Bread", take a look at, "And The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon" by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummbel, or "Fishing in the Air" by Sharon Creech. Delightful books for children.