Customer Reviews

Sun Bread

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

"The wind it whooshed, the snow it whirled,/The rain streamed down; it sloshed and swirled/And washed the colors from the world." It's cold and dark, dank and damp, and everyone in this little village misses the sun who seems to have gone into hiding. In fact, the baker missed the sun so much, she decided to bake a "sunny feast". She worked very hard on her dough until it was just right, shaped it just so, and "it seemed the sun shone in her hands!" Soon the smell of baking bread reached the entire town and everyone hurried to the baker's house for a piece of that wonderful sun bread. "Bread so brilliant, bright, and sunny,/Summer seemed to fill their tummies./Bread so fluffy and so fine,/They felt themselves begin to shine..." The sun bread made everyone feel so good, they forgot about winter and all the bad weather, and ran back outside to dance, play, and maybe, just maybe, coax the real sun out again..... Elisa Kleven has authored a charming and entertaining story that will definitely warm you up on those cold and wet winter days. Her lilting, rhyming text is only outdone by her marvelously bold and busy collage artwork, full of wonderful, expressive animal characters, and intricate detail. Youngsters will love poring over the colorful, and engaging illustrations. Perfect for kids 3-7, Sun Bread is a lovely read-aloud picture book the entire family can enjoy together, and includes an easy to follow recipe on the back cover, so that you can make and eat your own Sun Bread. "This bread, alas, won't make you fly. But it is heavenly - light and high!"

I'm a second grade teacher whose students adore Sun Bread. The pictures are beautiful and the text is pure fun to read aloud (and chant along with!). The story also presents concepts about the sun in an eloquent and intriguing manner. "It melted all the snows away and brought the shadows out to play" is one of our favorite lines. We also love "It scattered rainbows soft and bright, [and] fed the plants with its clear light." What a charming introduction to photosynthesis! Sun Bread is a delightful, warm, and informative book. Tie it in with a lesson about the garden and breadmaking.

Tangible signs of winter and warmth highlight this finely textured book from the author and illustrator of "The Paper Princess" and "The Puddle Pail." It's wintertime, and all the animals miss the sun. A baker decides to make Sun Bread to make everyone warm again. The bread warms the hearts of all the animals, and the feed some to The Sun, heating its insides to radiate light.
Kleven's illustrations create a wonderful transfer between gray, wintry skies and warm sunny days. She uses collages to great effect; the snow falling from the sky takes on an almost three-dimensional look. The drawings appear chalk-like in style, giving a smooth flow to the storyline. Parents will appreciate the transference of gloom among the animals under the winter skies to smiles under the sunshine. Some enthusiastic children are sure to ask their parents to bake Sun Bread using the recipe on the back of the book. A delight throughout.

This is just a charming book. the art is amazing, there is so much to see, so much to discover on each page. And the recipe on the back makes a WONDERFUL loaf of bread (or circle of bread really! LOL)

This is another book we origanlly borrowed from the library and HAD TO HAVE for our private collection!!
Elisa Kleven is wonderful!!

i got this book from our library for my 3 yr old daughter who absolutely loves to mix flour water salt yeast and sugar for her "bread". She loves the illustrations as there are always little things to find within the pages; but not so many things that the story becomes cluttered....just nicely detailed. She also loves the story; it has a good feeling about it and leaves her feeling happy when we are done reading it. the recipe on the back cover for sun bread is a great way for child/parent/teacher, etc... to make; just to round out the lesson being taught. Excellent book and a must for your child's library and/or classroom library.

This is such a great book and inspires to make your own bread which I have done with pretty good success! (our oven runs a little hot!) Wonderful pictures to engagage your toddler (also fun to make bread with!), my almost 2 1/2 yr old loves it so much we got it for her for Christmas along with other Elisa Kleven books involving the Paper princess. We've gotten all our Elisa Kleven books from the library but had to have some for our own colection! Her story telling is magical, whimsical and yet based in real kid realms. Hard to explain- but we're fairly picky as to what we'll let our little girl read so far and this book tops the cake! Or Bread as you prefer :)
If you like her illistrations take a peek at Dies Diditos or better yet http://www.elisakleven.com/ Enjoy all the whimsy that is Elsia Kleven!