So You Want To Be A Baker

Bread rises because of yeast burps. That is just the start of what young readers learn in this book. So You Want To Be A Baker shows kids that baking works more like chemistry than cooking. Readers learn how yeast and gluten trap millions of tiny bubbles, why baking soda needs an acid to fizz, and how bakers fold butter into dough to create the flaky layers of a croissant. Along the way they pick up real bakery words like proof, crumb, oven spring, and lame.

A Day in the Life starts at 3:30 AM, when the head baker unlocks the door in the dark, and follows the team through singing loaves, flat cinnamon rolls, and a birthday cake shaped like a dragon. The book is honest about the hard parts too, from early hours and burns to thin profit margins and food allergies, and explains how people become bakers.

Baking history is full of surprises, from 14,400-year-old bread crumbs found in Jordan and 81 loaves preserved at Pompeii to the Great Fire of London, which started in a bakery. Profiles feature Malinda Russell, Kimura Yasubei, Ruth Wakefield, Dominique Ansel, Nadiya Hussain, and Bryan Ford. Readers also meet bakeries with big hearts and the Bread Lab, where scientists grow purple and black wheat.

Hands-on activities let kids blow up a balloon with yeast, test kneaded dough, and grow a sourdough starter with an adult. The back matter includes a 24-term glossary, recommended books and websites, and baking organizations to explore.

Written for ages 10 to 14 and accessible to younger readers with a grown-up, this illustrated nonfiction book is a perfect gift for kids who love baking and kitchen science, and a great fit for STEM lessons, homeschool families, and school libraries.

Part of the award-winning So You Want To Be A... career exploration series by Linda Soules.