Tony's Bread ANNOTATION
A baker loses his daughter but gains a bakery in the grand city of Milano after meeting a determined nobleman and baking a unique loaf of bread.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
In this refreshingly original folktale, Tomie DePaola creates a delicious story of how the sweet Italian bread in a flower-pot shape came to be called panettone, or Tony's Bread.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
How did panettone , the rich Italian Christmas bread, get its name? With tongue firmly in cheek, dePaola provides this confection as a reply. Chubby Serafina, the baker Antonio's daughter, spends her days eating candy and weeping by the window. For although her father adores her and gives her the best of everything, Tony is convinced there is no man worthy of her. Then Angelo, a wealthy nobleman, falls in love with Serafina and enlists the help of three meddlesome ``aunties'' to win her father's approval. In return for Serafina's hand in marriage, Angelo sets Tony up in his own bakery in Milano, where he becomes wonderfully rich and famous from sales of an unusually shaped bread: pan di Tonio , or panettone . The tale is a typically charming dePaolian effort, and the illustrations abound with his trademark coziness. Another nice touch: like Tony's currant-filled buns, the story is sprinkled with Italian words and phrases, translations of which are cleverly woven into the text. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)
Children's Literature - Debra Briatico
Tony, the baker, dreams that one day he will become the most famous baker in all of Northern Italy and his daughter Serafina dreams that she will find a suitable husband. Angelo, a wealthy nobleman from Milano, comes to town and makes both of their dreams come true. With the help of three gossiping aunties, Zia Clotilda, Zia Caterina, and Zia Clorinda, Angelo devises a plan that helps Tony create panettone, the most delicious bread in Italy. After Tony becomes famous for his loaves of bread baked in flowerpots, he and Serafina move to Milano, where she marries Angelo and the three live happily ever after. Bravo to dePaola for creating this humorous and wonderfully illustrated original Italian folktale!
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