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Publishers Weekly

Children's Literature

It is dreary indeed. The wind is whooshing, the snow is whirling and the streaming rain has washed the colors from the world. Distinctive collage pictures display glimpses of gloom inside homes throughout the village. The baker misses the sun so much she decides to make some bread, rich and gold, glossy, springy, smooth to hold. She shapes her lovely dough into the shape of the sun. The smell of its baking transforms the town. The characters rush into the bakery and delight in the bread. Their dancing and singing wakes the sun, who then partakes of the glory of the bread as the warmth of spring spreads over the land. Delightfully detailed illustrations depict first the despair and then the joy of the charming animal characters as they skip across the pages to the rhythm of the rhyming text. The recipe for Sun Bread appears on the back cover. 2001, Dutton, $16.99. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Phyllis Kennemer

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.

Kirkus Reviews

The winter winds are whipping through the village, leaving everyone cold and disheartened—and the baker decides to change all that with a loaf of bread. The washed-out colors of winter surround the frozen village, where the villagers yearn for the warmth of the sun. The baker takes some flour, yeast, sugar, and eggs and kneads it into a rich loaf of bread shaped like the sun. As it bakes, the loaf begins to grow, filling the whole village with its warmth. The residents—porcupines, pigs, giraffes, monkeys, and birds—all come out to see and sample this amazing yeasty creation. As their joy grows, the real sun wakes up to see what's what. The animals rejoice and find their gloom drifting away as they are warmed by its rays and the rich flavor of the bread. The poetic lines of this tale swirl and arc around the illustrations, giving the illusion that the wind is blowing them to and fro. The brightly colored drawings made from paint and collage complement this tale of winter turning to spring. On the back cover and jacket is a recipe for sun bread, which, "alas, won't make you fly. But, it is heavenly light and high." Though not an especially riveting story, the richly detailed illustrations, with the promise of an accompanying activity, hold alchemy of their own. (Picture book 4-7)