Here's a review from Kirkus that I was thrilled to see:
"A fanciful and inventive version of how those yummy big soft pretzels came to be. Brother Giovanni is a monk of inveterate cheerfulness and a most excellent baker. But the bishop is coming, and the children don't know their prayers: what to do? The abbot hopes that Brother Giovanni's youth and smile will coax the children into learning. Brother Giovanni sings to them and allows them to dance at lessons, but that doesn't work. He even tries Brother Jerome's advice to put on a stern face (the montage of Giovanni's attempts at stern faces is very funny). But after a night of sleeplessness and prayer, when he makes far too large a batch of dough, he folds and twists ropes of dough into the position of his arms at prayer and then offers the pretiolas as a reward....."(Picture book. 5-9) Copyright Kirkus 2015 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
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