MONSIEUR SAGUETTE AND HIS BAGUETTE

When Monsieur Saguette purchases a baguette to eat with soup, a series of strange and appealing adventures interrupts his journey home. Time after time, Monsieur Saguette uses his baguette to come to somebody’s aid: a kitten stuck in a tree, a baby menaced by a crocodile, and a stranded marching band. Eventually, Monsieur Saguette himself is rescued by using his marvelous baguette when he falls into a rapidly flooding sewer. Eventually Monsieur Saguette returns home and eats his marvelous baguette, apparently no worse the wear for its exposure to sewers and crocodile mouths. Affectionate illustrations marked by compelling touches of absurdity—a passing child walks his pet turtle while wearing roller skates—provide comforting silliness. Despite—or perhaps because of—the strangeness of Monsieur Saguette eating his baguette after everything that’s happened to it, this is quite the giggle-inducer. (Picture book. 3-6)