Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Bread Comes to Life: A Garden of Wheat and a Loaf to Eat
Photographer: Shmuel Thaler
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 4 to 7
Tricycle Press, 2004 ISBN: 978-1582462738
All around the world people eat bread. They eat white bread and black bread, small bread and tall bread. They eat dinner rolls and “bread with holes.” How is this bread made?
The story begins with seeds that are planted in the ground. The seeds “sprout into shoots of bright green grass,” which then grows into tall wheat plants. In the sun, the heads of the wheat turn gold and it is time to harvest. The dried stalks are piled into a threshing box, and they are rubbed to separate the edible what from the inedible chaff. The wheat seeds that are collected are then ground into flour. Now the real magic begins. How will the baker turn the fluffy flour into delicious bread?
In this clever and informative book the author and photographer combine a bouncy rhyming text with splendid full color photos to show children how bread is made. At the back of the book there is further information about wheat, how to sprout your own wheat grass, how to made wheat “gum,” what gluten is, and how to make a loaf of bread at home. Readers are sure to enjoy the companion Bread Comes to Life website.
