The Donut Chef

IN THIS DELICIOUS tale, a baker hangs out his shingle on a small street, and soon, the line for his doughnuts stretches down the block. But it’s not long before the competition arrives and a battle of the bakers ensues. In the competitive frenzy, both bakers’ doughnuts become “quite bizarre, like Cherry-Frosted Lemon Bar, and Peanut-Brickle Buttermilk, or Gooey Coca- Mocha Silk!” Some are not even very tasty: “Donuts made with huckleberry (don’t be scared, they’re kind of hairy).” One day, Debbie Sue, just barely two, enters the bakery, and searches in vain for her favorite doughnut, where “the choice of donuts left her dazed. Said Debbie Sue, “But I want . . . glazed.” A fun lesson in keeping it simple in which our hero chef decides to go back to the basics, and wins over the whole town.

Bob Staake, who grew up reading Golden Books, is a former political cartoonist, a highly successful commercial artist, and the creator of several critically acclaimed books for children. He has illustrated several recent New Yorker covers, and his 2006 Golden Book, The Red Lemon, was a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year. He lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.