Bear’s Bakery
Bear’s Bakery
by ReadRead · 4 min readPush, fold and turn: Bear and Crumb knead the dough, but a cold oven means it will not rise, until a hungry fox lends a paw. A warm story about sharing.
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Early in the morning, Baker Bear and his tiny helper Crumb make bread. They knead the soft dough and put it in a bowl by the warm oven to rise. Then the fire goes out, and there are no more sticks. Knock, knock: a thin, hungry fox is at the door, and it wants to help.
The new words in this book
To push, fold and squeeze soft dough. It comes up 7 times, and every time paws or tiny mouse feet really squash the dough.
To go up and get bigger. It comes up 8 times: the dough puffs up out of its bowl, and at the end six little buns swell up.
Bear’s little song “Knead it, knead it, watch it rise!” comes back on three spreads, so a child can sing along by page three. Every other word is a common word, like bread, dough, oven, warm and share.
Questions to ask while you read
Pause after each spread and ask one question. There are no right answers; the point is to get your child talking.
- 1What do you see in Bear’s bakery?
- 2How does Bear knead the dough? Can you push and fold, too?
- 3How does Crumb help?
- 4Why does Bear put the dough by the warm oven?
- 5Oh no! Why can the dough not rise now?
- 6Who is at the door? Why does Crumb hide?
- 7How does Fox help? How do you think Crumb feels now?
- 8Look at the bowl! What is the dough doing?
- 9Tap each bun: knead it, then watch it rise.
- 10Who would you share warm bread with?
How hard is this book?
About 300 words, longer sentences, more different words.
- Dialogue × 10“Wow! It is so big!” says Crumb.
- Questions × 2“I am so hungry,” says Fox. “Can I help?”
- Commands × 2“Come, Fox! Let’s share,” says Bear.
- Not / no × 3Oh no! The fire in the oven goes out.
- Will / going to × 1“Today we will make bread!” says Bear.
- Contractions × 1“Come, Fox! Let’s share,” says Bear.
- Bigger / biggest × 2“And we have no more sticks for the fire.”
All 113 words, most used first
the 24 · it 19 · and 13 · a 8 · rise 8 · dough 7 · is 7 · knead 7 · says 6 · fox 5 · in 5 · to 5 · big 4 · bowl 4 · comes 4 · of 4 · out 4 · oven 4 · up 4 · warm 4 · watch 4 · we 4 · at 3 · bread 3 · can 3 · fire 3 · goes 3 · help 3 · little 3 · puts 3 · sticks 3 · with 3 · back 2 · buns 2 · by 2 · cold 2 · down 2 · for 2 · his 2 · i 2 · knock 2 · look 2 · no 2 · now 2 · on 2 · runs 2 · share 2 · so 2 · soft 2 · tiny 2 · too 2 · waits 2 · you 2 · again · all · am · bag · ball · behind · best · bun · bushy · come · door · each · early · eat · flat · flour · fold · friend · gets · hat · have · helper · hides · hooray · hungry · jumps · let's · lots · make · makes · more · morning · mouse · not · oh · opens · our · over · push · red · say · sits · six · someone · starts · still · sun · table · tail · tap · thank · thin · today · together · top · turn · wait · wants · will · wow
Names don’t count: the picture shows who it is.
Tips for parents
- First time: use Read to me and let your child just listen and watch.
- Before spread six, stop and ask “The fire is out. What can they do?” Let them guess.
- On the bun page, say the words as your child taps: “Knead, knead… rise!”
- Make it real: knead a little play dough or bread dough together, then put it somewhere warm and check if it rises.