MEDIA

Baker's Magic

by Diane ZAHLER

7 CDs. 8 hrs. Live Oak Media. Oct. 2016. $58.95. ISBN 9781430125983. digital download.

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Gr 3–6—Orphaned as a baby, 12-year-old Bee leaves her foster parents and travels to the capital city, where hunger leads her to steal a bun from a local bakery. Her "punishment" is to help the kindly baker, which swiftly turns into an apprenticeship as Bee shows an aptitude for baking. More than an aptitude, in fact, when it's discovered that Bee bakes her emotions into her cookies and tarts and passes those emotions on to whoever eats them. She also helps a princess and learns what has happened to all the missing trees. This sweet, engaging fantasy has just the right amount of action and is enhanced by strong characterization and a positive environmental message. The full-cast performance is led by Tavia Gilbert, who narrates and portrays Bee, the plucky, resourceful protagonist.

VERDICT Solid pacing and the skill of all the voice actors to convey both story and emotion result in an entertaining listening experience that includes a recipe for the fateful buns that started it all. For fantasy lovers. ["A cozy fantasy adventure featuring strong female characters. A solid addition to larger middle grade collections": SLJ 2/16 review of the Capstone book.]

Reviewed by Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, ILyoung adult , Mar 01, 2017

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