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J.R.Poulter has worked as a senior educator, librarian, lecturer in English Expression, editor and in a circus. A multi-awarded author/poet with over 40 books to her name, she also writes poetry, YA and general readership fiction under J.R.McRae.
Christian Bocquee is an Australian, Brisbane based illustrator.
His artistic career began as a hand drawn animation assistant, and has since spanned across both 2D & 3D animation, game character design, and illustration for a number of educational children’s books. This book is his first self-published work.
www.christianbocquee.com
Reviewed by Bruce Arrington for Readers' Favorite
The Very Cross Bun, by J.R. Poulter, is a young children’s illustrated story about a piece of bread—a bun—that comes alive, has feelings (angry ones at that), and decides to run away before he is thrown out. He takes a high-speed journey on his own, running away from any potential consumers, while determined to make his fame and fortune in the great wide world. This is a lovely story, filled with the energy of the favorite tales of my own childhood. Yes, it is a retelling of The Gingerbread Man, but it’s put together in a new and fresh way. It uses more contemporary backgrounds to make it easily understandable to today’s young readers. And it’s a great retelling, filled with vivid color and imagery, from the cover to the very last page. The pages come alive with the large bold words and quick action. It inserts humor into the main character, showing him as brave, brash, able to conquer the world…or can he?
I like the lesson the story affords—don’t be so hasty to determine your own destiny while not taking into account the thoughts and feelings of others. Though this statement might not be completely applicable to this character (since he is a piece of food), it does reveal his negative attributes. The other lesson is don’t always assume you can trust those who might not be so trustworthy. Children should enjoy The Very Cross Bun by J.R. Poulter every bit as much as The Gingerbread Man. I highly recommend it.
