Synopsis
Here is a delectable counting book that goes all the way to thirteen - a baker s dozen. Steaming German chocolate cakes, perfectly formed cherry pies, and gooey jelly rolls are just a few of the jolly baker s sweet treats.
Preschoolers will enjoy counting the mouth-watering pastries faster than this baker can make them!
Children's Literature
The fat and jolly baker who lives in a small room attached to his little bakery makes treats from one to twelve in this slightly-rhyming text with full-page illustrations for each numeral. Treats move scrumptiously along a fatteningly delightful continuum: éclairs (1), German chocolate cakes (2), cherry pies (3), sticky buns (4), cookie men (5), jelly rolls (6), tarts (7), strudels (8), rice crispy treats (9), tortes (10), macaroons (11), and cupcakes (12) for hungry patrons (13). In this day and age, when most kids idea of a bakery is the free cookie dispensary at the back of the local mega-mart, this old-fashioned celebration of baking is a calorie-free treat that kids and teachers will both enjoy. In the classroom, it could lead the way to all sorts of food-fancy counting (the Twelve days of Vegetables?) as well as the inevitable temptation to take the kids on a field trip that has absolutely nothing to do with testing-based criteria and is sure to fill both the imagination and the tummy. While some critics might say that this picture book has a total male bias, this reviewer would defend its male-only stance as an enticement for boys to get-er-done in the kitchen; girls seldom need such an enticement, it seems. The overall feel of the book is enhanced by each page s different background colors, the slightly retro artistic style, and the obvious joy with which the artist undertook the task of bringing this counting book to crispy sugared doneness. Highly recommended for its connection to food AND numbers. Reviewer: Gwynne Spencer