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Sun Bread
Winter's gray chill has set in and everyone misses the sun-especially the baker.Ìý So she decides to bring some warmth to the town by making sun bread.Ìý And as the bread bakes, rising hot and delicious, everyone comes out to share in its goodness.Ìý Everyone, including the sun itself.Ìý With a lilting, rhyming text, colorful illustrations, and a recipe for baking your own sun bread, this tasty treat from the illustrator of the best-selling Abuela is just right for all ages to enjoy.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
184 people want to read
About the author
Elisa Kleven
50Ìýbooks43ÌýfollowersElisa Kleven is the author and/or illustrator of over 30 childrens picture books. Favorites with children and adults alike, Elisa's books have received awards and honors from the American Library Association, The New York Times , The Junior Library Guild, School Library Journal, and the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Her pictures from Abuela are part of a traveling show organized by the Minnesota Children's Museum, and her story The Paper Princess has been adapted for two theater productions, one in Ireland and the other in California. Elisa lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family and pets. To learn more about Elisa and her books, please visit her web site:
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
January 26, 2024
This brought me some much needed joy in the form of illustrated sunshine as we've had a relentless inversion layer here and it's been gray-gray-gray. I read this years ago and gave it three stars, but I think I appreciated it more this time -- probably because I lived in a sunnier place before and couldn't fully empathize with how necessary a beautiful loaf of sun bread could be! Elisa Kleven was popular in our household when my oldest was younger -- he really seemed drawn to her illustrations -- so it was sweetly nostalgic to return to one of her books now and I was happy that both boys sat to listen as I read aloud. I will say that I do wish the sun bread recipe was healthier, but I hope that families who wish to emulate the baker in this book can find another recipe adapted to their family's dietary needs -- it's not the recipe itself that matters but the spirit of making something cheerful and uplifting to bring "sunshine" to a dark day.
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Original review 2013: I started off loving the story. It's a beautiful idea about how a baker makes some "sun bread" to help a town that has grown weary of a long, dark winter. But, somewhere along the way, the narrative kind of fell flat for me and got a bit rambling or something. I don't know exactly how to pinpoint it. I still think Kleven is a great author and illustrator (the rhyme scheme here is lovely and the illustrations are so full of detail and so interesting) but this isn't my favorite of hers.
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Original review 2013: I started off loving the story. It's a beautiful idea about how a baker makes some "sun bread" to help a town that has grown weary of a long, dark winter. But, somewhere along the way, the narrative kind of fell flat for me and got a bit rambling or something. I don't know exactly how to pinpoint it. I still think Kleven is a great author and illustrator (the rhyme scheme here is lovely and the illustrations are so full of detail and so interesting) but this isn't my favorite of hers.
June 25, 2023
Beautiful book! Lovely story ! Gorgeous illustrations! Recipe sooo much fun !
March 23, 2022
Enjoyed this book! My dear friend shared with me that she read this to her kids on Winter Solstice and she made the sun bread and everything! Such a cute idea to celebrate the longer hours of sunlight.
January 18, 2011
I’m always so amazed at Kleven’s illustrations, which consist primarily of collages. I’ve always enjoyed that art form. I got a kick out of the dedication page because special thanks are given for modeling to Scout and Jenny, the author-illustrator’s dogs.
While the rhyming story reads beautifully, the story itself didn’t much excite me. The baker baking “sun� bread, with very unhealthy (and needlessly full of non-vegan) ingredients, a bread that calls the sun to shine, well, I was not wowed by the content.
The illustrations shine though. All the multitude of animals, the detailed backgrounds, and even the headlines on the newspapers and labels on the food packages all are fabulous. I probably would have enjoyed this more as a wordless or nearly wordless picture book. Yet, while I really enjoyed the pictures and appreciated how they were created, they weren’t my very favorite by Kleven. However, there is so much to view on every page and kids will have fun perusing the pictures.
While the rhyming story reads beautifully, the story itself didn’t much excite me. The baker baking “sun� bread, with very unhealthy (and needlessly full of non-vegan) ingredients, a bread that calls the sun to shine, well, I was not wowed by the content.
The illustrations shine though. All the multitude of animals, the detailed backgrounds, and even the headlines on the newspapers and labels on the food packages all are fabulous. I probably would have enjoyed this more as a wordless or nearly wordless picture book. Yet, while I really enjoyed the pictures and appreciated how they were created, they weren’t my very favorite by Kleven. However, there is so much to view on every page and kids will have fun perusing the pictures.
November 17, 2021
Sun Bread is a very sweet story about a town of animals experiencing a very cold, snowy, and dreary day. To apprehend all of the sad feelings that came from the gloomy day, a baker decides she misses the sun so much that she is going to bring some of that warmth back through her baking. She thought that since the sun wanted to hide, she would make her own sun. The bread she made turned out way bigger than expected and the sweet smells filled the entire town. The baker let all of her friends from town into her bakery to have her bread and find some warmth and joy. The sun then busted out from behind the clouds and the baker shouted "The sun wants some bread!" All of the townsfolk fed bread to the sun and she shone down on them all, filling the world with warmth and everyone celebrated. Now anytime there is a gloomy day, the baker and her new friends bake bread for the sun. I gave this story 5 stars because it is incredibly colorful and full of joy. The illustrations are vibrant and captivating which does a very good job of keeping you focused on the story. I enjoyed the tale that this story told and the warm feelings that it sparked.
January 28, 2019
This beautifully illustrated picture book tells the story of a baker who bakes a loaf of sun bread to entice the winter sun to return. The giant loaf is shared by the community of animals and eventually by the sun as well who agrees to return each morning for breakfast. The final page offers a recipe to make homemade sun bread.
December 14, 2018
My little one and I loved this book of animals baking sun bread during a dark cold winter until the actual sun rises and they share their sun bread with it. The illustrations are cute and there is a recipe for sun bread included in the book.
February 19, 2022
I remember this being a friendly, warm read with great illustrations. My college aged daughter just asked me for the recipe from this book because she remembers it from when she was in elementary school!
December 15, 2024
As a kid I remember feeling so sad that they ate the happy smiling sun bread, but now I see that the bread is only the sun when in your warm belly!! This is such a lovely book and perfect for a winter solstice celebration.
December 10, 2018
Includes a recipe for sun bread!
December 4, 2020
Read this with my kids every year, yet somehow never had rated it before now. Part of our annual solstice celebrations is reading books about the solstice and baking sun bread.
January 17, 2021
A happy, uplifting picture book which is written in rhyme. It's certain to brighten any dreary day for young readers.
March 11, 2021
This is the perfect book to read in February in Wisconsin. We can go weeks without sunshine. And yes, bread can bring the sunshine on those dark days.
November 12, 2022
Anyone who craves sunshine and baked goods needs this book. I came away with a warm heart and a big grin after seeing this cast of adorable animals mix up a batch of love and light. Wonderful.
December 11, 2022
Someone really loves their bread.
January 5, 2023
A fun book we read every year to celebrate Winter Solstice. We love the sun bread recipe!
June 27, 2023
Colorful, fun, and engaging! The doldrums of winter are eased with the baking of sun bread!
February 6, 2024
The edition I read does *not* have a recipe.
Kudos for an original concept, for interesting details in the illustrations, for the offering of hope/optimism. But somehow it just didn't wow me.
Kudos for an original concept, for interesting details in the illustrations, for the offering of hope/optimism. But somehow it just didn't wow me.
April 11, 2024
A cute little story about beating the winter blues. Can also tie in to the solstice/equinox or solar eclipse.
November 29, 2022
I wish I wrote this...
April 29, 2022
This story and its illustrations are both a bit fanciful, can't be taken too seriously, but fun to read, especially during lousy weather. The rhyming text is nice but the vibrant illustrations really make this book.
December 11, 2013
I’m not sure which is the best thing about this book, the gorgeous art or the loving rhymes. Elisa Kleven tells a story of a snowy day when everything is dark, yet the baker at the bakery decides to make her own ‘sun bread� which grows and grows as it bakes, enough for all to eat and share. Like a warm miracle, the real sun makes its appearance. It’s a ‘delicious� story, with a happy voice and animals filling the pages.
December 2, 2015
I liked the premise, of baking sun bread as a way to bring light into the dark time of winter, but I found some parts a bit over the top (like throwing chunks of bread at the sun...). I was looking for winter solstice books for my kids, and this wasn't quite what I had expected, but they enjoyed it nonetheless, especially how it was written in rhyme.
April 16, 2009
This is a great tale about long winters and what an enterprising baker does to bring out the sun. I loved the story, the characters, and especially the art. A mix of collage and drawing, and it went so well with the story. I would love to have some of these as art posters on my kid's walls.
December 3, 2010
I look at my book list on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and think I ought to stop giving out five stars, and then I read a book like this one and... well I caught my breath let me tell you. The rhyming is excellent, and the illustrations beautiful. The story is fabulous and it's so much fun to boot. Need I say more?
September 22, 2020
What a delightful and fun book! I highly recommend that you buy a copy for a child (ren) you know and one for yourself as well. :)
June 15, 2014: Elisa Kleven is one of my most favorite illustrators. She is both the author and illustrator of this book so it makes it double special.
January 14, 2009
i love this book although it is a childrens book it makes me feel happy on a rainy day.
June 2, 2010
beautiful illustrations.
Could be used for lesson - baking
Could be used for lesson - baking
January 28, 2011
Fun to make the bread with kids, collages are fun to look at throughout.
May 19, 2011
this is joyful and it rhymes!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
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