THE BAKERS DOZEN

A new baker tries to convince a group of chefs that their menu and team are incomplete.

In a quaint little town, 12 chefs are hard at work making the best pies, cakes, and cookies. Everyone at The Bakers Dozen does their job just right, like a well-oiled machine. One day, a girl named Kristen arrives asking for a job and noting that the bakery doesn’t offer her specialty: doughnuts. Kristen entices the bakers with a freshly baked, heavenly scented doughnut, as well as suggestions for an expanded menu of choices sure to lure in new customers. But a familiar refrain of “We are twelve. No more!” crystallizes the bakers’ insistence that their team is complete. Kristen tells them that her grandmother, who taught her the art of making doughnuts, also imparted some wise words: A baker’s dozen is 12 treats, “plus one extra to eat”—13! The 12 bakers celebrate the arrival of a new friend and colleague—and one more delectable goodie to offer. Written in rhyming couplets, Moore’s playful text teaches important lessons of persistence, resiliency, and embracing change. Stegmaier’s contrasting palette of oranges and blues pops on the pages, accentuating the flurry of activities in the bakery. Kristen is light-skinned; the bakers are racially diverse. A glazed doughnut recipe with several variations is the cherry on top of a charming tale.

A story as sweet as doughnuts.