Rise From Scratch: Phoenix Baker's 15 Stories to Lift Your Wings (The Rise of Phoenix Baker)($14.99Value)

Description

A lion cub knocks on a baker's door and asks a question most children's books avoid: "What do you do when you forget who you are?" He used to be brave. He had climbed the red rocks behind his den. He had crossed the dry river alone. Then one day something scary happened, and now he is scared of everything. The baker does not tell him he is still brave. He starts making dough, and tells the lion they will have to wait for it to rise. That is the whole book. RISE FROM SCRATCH is fifteen short stories set in a desert kitchen. In each one, an animal arrives at Phoenix Baker's door carrying something heavy, and leaves having worked out the answer themselves. A turtle who is tired of being told that slow and steady wins the race, because it has never once felt like winning. An owl who stopped asking questions after a room full of people laughed at one. A bear who cannot stop working long enough to sleep. A dog who trusted someone completely and has decided never to make that mistake again. A caterpillar having the worst day of her life, who does not know it is the most important one. Three things about how these stories are written: The lesson is never announced. Phoenix Baker's most common answer is another question. When Leo works out on his own that courage might rise from the inside the way bread does, the baker's entire reply is, "Now you're thinking." What hurt is never named. The scary thing that happened to Leo is never explained. Neither is the argument the bee walked away from, or what exactly the dog's friend did. Every child reading fills in their own. Nobody is fixed. Duke leaves with his walls still standing — just a crack in them now. Rosie still moves fast, because that is how she is built. Bruno rests for one afternoon, and today that is enough. The stories end honestly, which is the reason children believe them. The baking is real, too. A sourdough starter fed every day for three years. Cold butter cut into flour so the layers hold when the heat comes. Why one grain of salt is the difference between flour and bread. Children finish these stories knowing something true about a kitchen, not just something nice about themselves. The last story belongs to Phoenix Baker. He burns the best thing he ever made, sits down on his kitchen floor covered in flour, and does not know what to do next. What he finds in the middle of the ash is not his recipe. It is the beginning of a different one. The values underneath are Christian — rest, honesty, patience, faithfulness, courage. No story preaches. No verse is quoted. The lessons live in the bread. Fifteen stories, about eight minutes each. Illustrated throughout. Read aloud at six. Read alone by eight. Good for a child who is going through something and has not found the words for it yet. Rise From Scratch. Because everything worth having starts with what you already have inside.