Today's read... The Only Way to Make Bread by Cristina Quintero

One of my favorite things about living in Germany was the bread. Weekend mornings, we'd get up early to walk the two blocks to our local bakery, where there were dozens of fresh breads to choose from. The smell hit the moment we rounded the corner. Stepping into the store was heavenly. Luckily, relatives and neighbors were more than happy to share baking tips, and I can now recreate some of our favorites from that time. So, this book was a 'must read' for me. Now, I just hope it doesn't disappoint.

THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE BREAD

by Cristina Quintero

Illustrated by Sarah Gonzales

Tundra Books

Picture Book

40 pages

ages 4 to 8

COMING OCTOBER 3rd!!!

A delicious exploration of all kinds of breads, from sourdough to bannock to bao, that will tickle your taste buds and warm your heart.

What's the only way to make bread?

You might use white flour in your bread, or whole wheat flour or corn flour.

You might use water or milk, maybe an egg or two.

You'll use a handful of this, a dash of that, a bit of this and a splash of that.

Some dough will rise, some dough will bubble. Sometimes it will be sticky, sometimes it will be shaggy.

What's the only way to make bread?

Your way!

This tasty celebration of all kinds of bread will tempt bread lovers big and small. No matter what kind of bread YOU like to make, this book is for you!

GOODREADS   /   AMAZON   /   B&N    /   BOOKSHOP

MY TIDBITS

Bread in all of its wonderous shapes, flavors, and ways comes together in pure celebration.

This book is all about bread and allows the various ways to create it to flow together in a constant wave of action. From one page to the next, the stages of creating bread from bowls to ingredients to baking are explored. At the end of the book, there is a little information about the history and origin of the  different types of bread mentioned in these pages. There are also two recipes to form two very different breads, which listeners can try themselves (with a little help from an adult, of course).

So much energy and action surrounds what seems to be a simple process, It shows how exciting bread can be. Starting from the first page, many people are involved, each creating their own recipe. The diversity is put on full display, while keeping a very positive, party-like atmosphere. While the text goes through the different steps of making bread on a very basic level, the illustrations swirl around the togetherness it can involve. It's busy, lively, and centers more on the people enjoying the process than the details involved in baking. The entire thing rounds off with a celebration, which has the mouth-watering. And the ending recipes slide in at the right time, since listeners are going to want to try baking their own bread after reading this.

It's a lovely read for groups as well as for individuals.

And here they are...

CRISTINA QUINTERO is a first-generation Colombian-Canadian of both Afro-Colombian and Indigenous-Colombian descent. As a child of immigrants, she understands the importance of stories that go beyond trauma and struggle and instead highlight the everyday joy that is created within immigrant communities. She grew up in a neighborhood where one mama filled in for another, so while it was not always easy, her childhood was always delicious. Thus was born her lifelong love of food and ideas about community-building through food.

Filipino-Canadian illustrator SARAH GONZALES was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Canada. Sarah has been drawing ever since she can remember and has never stopped; she eventually went to the Alberta College of Art and Design, where she focused on illustration and design. Sarah lives in Montreal.