About the Author

Elisa Klevenwrites and illustrates picture books because she's never outgrown a deep childhood urge to enter a magical world. To date, she has written and illustrated 13 books and illustrated 15 others, including herSchool Library JournalBest Book,Puddle Pail, which also features the crocodile brothers, Ernst and Sol; herNew York TimesBest Illustrated Book,Sun Bread;The Lion and the Little Red Bird; andThe Paper Princess. Elisa and her family and live in Albany, California.

Reviews

"The richly detailed illustrations, with the promise of an accompanying activity, hold alchemy of their own." -Kirkus Review

"The richly detailed illustrations, with the promise of an accompanying activity, hold alchemy of their own." -Kirkus Review

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.