I wanted to love this one.. I think it might be awesome and I just got one that was poorly formatted from the early days. I hope to see this in real life/ physical form to be able to assess it better.

I Loved this book so much. I love that dad is the focus here and mom is not the focus. It shows him as a strong character who works hard, loves his daughter, and baking. I loved the part where she says that her dad smells like bread. I could almost smell it myself. This is a fun read that will be amazing for young readers, and shows a great male role model. We, and I, need more books like this. I wish this would be an awesome series. I wanted to read more. Can I also say that I love it shows him with tattoos and him being a big, strong man who can do such delicate work? After reading the author's note I could see where he might, or was, have been incarcerated. I too have worked in the prison system through a ministry, and I see people who come in and out and life can be difficult on the outside. I think this would also be a great book to use for families who have parents who have been incarcerated and show them loving their children, working hard, and being a positive role model. I could go on and on about my love for this book. I cannot wait to add this to my library collection. Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Katie Yamasaki has gifted us with a heartwarming story about a devoted father, his beloved daughter, and the delightful activities they enjoy doing together. It’s evident that Yamasaki’s work as a muralist informs and influences her work as a picture book author and illustrator. Her uncluttered, dynamic, and vibrant images leap off the page and drive the narrative forward from the father’s early morning shift at the bakery before the sun rises to the time in late evening when he finally gets to rest.

This picture book is about a love of baking with a daughter and father. Dad gets up every morning to work at a bakery. I enjoyed reading this book. The illustrations were on point and went well with the story. I recommend this book to kids ages 2 - 5 years old. I give it five stars

Absolutely love the illustrations in this book. Yamasaki provides an important, and often under represented, look at the special relationship between fathers and daughters. I also appreciate that Yamasaki characters are people of colour as it is so important for children of all cultures to see themselves reflected in literature.

This was a cute picture book that followed a day in the life of a daughter and father. The father gets up early to go to his job where he bakes, and then comes home and spends the day with his daughter. I enjoyed how clear the father's love for baking is, since baking is his job but then he also comes home and bakes with his daughter.

The art style of this picture book was unique; the author/illustrator is a muralist, and each page was a painting.

The story was pretty simple. The author's note at the end indicated that this book was inspired by groups and workplaces that give support to people who have been incarcerated, but I would never have known
that if I had not read the author's note. The beginning of the book indicated that the daughter was exchanging letters with her dad, but there isn’t more of an explanation as to why. If the author wanted these ideas to be more prevalent in the story, there could have been more clear indication of this.

rating: 3,5/5 stars

I love the simplicity of the story and what it is showing. It is so important to show children what reality is in literature and that it is not always a song and dance.

The illustrations are caring and well composed to create real images not perfection. I love that gender roles, race and family are shown in a non-judgemental way that shows real life. Books incorporating people of different backgrounds, culture and situations are very important in a classroom and children’s literature.

I have a child once say to me about a beautiful story representing African culture I love this story because the people in it actually look like me. I can imagine dad bakes being a picture book that can do this for many.

A beautiful slice-of-life picture book about a father and daughter's relationship and baking. The language is very simple and the illustrations are stunning. I think it's uncommon to see a picture book show so many sweet moments between a father and daughter connecting and spending their day together.

The author's note at the end caught me by surprise because I didn't make the connection about the author's work with incarcerated populations until my second read, but this would be a good story for students to practice their close-reading/observation & inferencing skills.

(I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

This picture book features really simple language and short sentences to describe the day-to-day life of the main character's dad, who works as a baker. I love the simplicity of the text paired with the beauty of the illustrations. It is a book that will be accessible to young toddlers and early preschoolers. I can see this being a lovely addition to any early childhood unit on baking, community helpers, etc...

I agree with other reviews... I would not have known about any connection to families who live through the experience of a parent being incarcerated if not for the author's note.

I received an electronic ARC from W. W. Norton & Company through NetGalley.
Yamasaki's artwork brings this story to life. Readers see the story from the child's perspective as she shares about her dad in short sentences. Her dad works hard at a bakery early each morning. We see him with the rest of the baking team. The details down to the tattoos on their arms in the illustrations offer a look into these characters' lives. Some readers will recognize themselves in this young girl and celebrate the time with their parent.

This adorable, simple book tells the story of a dad and work his routine, then his home routine with his daughter, involving baking bread. It has very simple short text which is accompanied by wonderful illustrated pages that compliment the story beautifully.

It using some great describing words and rhyme which will help grow a child’s vocabulary. The perfect heartfelt read to share with your child.

** I received an advanced copy of this ebook to read and review. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for allowing me this opportunity **

Fantastic book. I loved it. Inspired by work with formerly incarcerated parents/ single parents in a real way and flips traditional gender roles.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-arc of this title.

This is a very simple story about daily life for a young girl and her dad. While I love the idea of a Dad baking with his daughter, I"m not sure what (if anything) this story is trying to tell. The author's note at the end is interesting, but I'm not sure if the story is supposed to be related to her work with incarcerated populations or not.

I do love that the dad is working a non-traditional job, and that he is depicted with tattoos. It's neat to see a parent figure working non-traditional hours, too (especially as the wife of a night shift worker).

A very sweet and adorable story about a dad and his loved kiddo and what their days look like. The art is also very beautiful.

This is a very sweet "slice of life" story about a day in the life of a father and daughter. There isn't a plot or action, as such, just a lovely recounting of the things they do together and a reflection of the obvious affection between them.

Unless I missed something, I wouldn't have known there was any reference to families affected by incarceration or reentry if it hadn't been for the author's note. The opening picture suggests the father being away, but it's never addressed and the father is very much present during the story. That said, I was glad to learn about the various bakeries and businesses supporting people transitioning out of the justice system.

This would be a lovely one-on-one or bedtime book since it's so peaceful and almost meditative.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

I was blown away by this book! Not only was the artwork stunning but the story she tells is beautiful. We need more books like this on our shelves that show what real life is like for so many families.

I think this is particularly good to show that there are so many types of jobs for different people to have. Small thing, but I really love that Dad in this story has tattoos - it's not a thing you see often in children's book illustrations.

Love love love! The first thing that struck me was the father’s tattoos. I LOVE that a tattooed person has been depicted in a children’s book – why is that we don’t see this often? Is it a longstanding bias? Is it societal assumptions about people with tattoos? What about cultural tattoo traditions? So much to unpack there, but I won’t – that’s a conversation to have with the young people reading this gorgeous book. This tattooed father and his daughter have a sensitive, gentle relationship. They marvel in each other’s company with daughter being in awe of her dad’s skills as a baker. She wants to be just like dad! I love the illustrations so much!! The speech… not bubbles… ribbons. Stunning! I appreciated the authors end notes on incarceration – it would have been really great for the characters’ connection to incarceration to be a little more obvious within the story itself (maybe just to say dad was a baker in prison or something to that effect) but even as standalone I love both parts. Great book!

I loved this book and am still thinking about it a day after reading it. I noticed that the dad in the story was covered in tattoos, which is not common in picture books. I origianlly liked that because it was different. At the end of the book, there is an explanation of how the author based the story off prisons. I think this would resonate with many kids and is nice for them to see people that might look like people they know.