This was a free audio from the summer program. It is a story set in the Netherlands and it has priates, wizards and Mages, and social/environmental commentaries. The little girl, Bea, can do magic with her baking. She influences how people feel. This is definitely a middle school read. ( )

A delightful book and listen. Recipe for cinnamon rolls (buns) at the end would be a fun project to do with youngsters. If you only have the audio version, you can find the recipe online, Bouts Buns.

Bee is an orphan, alone in a poor, crumbling kingdom. In desperation, she steals a bun from a bakery. To Bee's surprise, the baker offers her a place at his shop. As she learns to bake, Bee discovers that she has a magical power. When a new friend desperately needs her help against an evil mage, Bee wonders what a small orphan girl with only a small bit of magic can do. Bee's journey to help her friend becomes a journey to save the kingdom, and a discovery of the meaning of family. ( )

A wonderful, magic story with pirates, princesses, bakers, and good-hearted townspeople; oh, let’s throw in a villain as well!

Bee has left her life of abuse with her foster family and has wandered to a new town where she takes a bun to eat because she’s so hungry! She’s accused of stealing which upsets her. Once the townspeople and the baker discover how hungry she is and that she’s alone, they want to help. The baker feeds her and offers her the back room where there’s a bed. She’s welcome to stay as long as she likes if she’ll help with the baking. Bee discovers that she loves baking, which surprises her because no one liked anything she baked at her former home.

Let’s start with the people. Mr. Bouts is the baker and he’s so sweet, becoming a father figure for Bee. Wil is the blacksmith’s son and apprentice who becomes Bee’s friend. Then there’s Princess Anika, the villain Master Joris, and pirates! Master Joris loves tulips, so there are beautiful tulips everywhere. What’s missing? Trees. They have no trees and don’t even know what they are, which means they’ve never tasted anything that comes from a tree: apples, nuts, spices, etc. They also don’t know what wood is. When Master Joris decides to marry Princess Anika off to an old man, Bee helps Anika escape and their adventure begins to free the kingdom from Master Joris.

I really enjoyed the joy of this book--it’s sweet. I can’t imagine not loving the baker, Mr. Bouts. He’s awesome! The book is so adorable and lovely that you must read it! ( )

Excellent. Very much on par with Terry Pratchet. ( )