Publishers Weekly
03/03/2014
Long and Joni posit a new origin story for the ubiquitous bagel (the existing legends are noted on the book's final page). It all started in the shetl, they say, where a wildly inventive boy named Ziggy wants to solve the plight of Moishe the baker, whose "top secret boiled buns" (which are "boiled then baked, making them soft and fluffy inside, and gold and crunchy on the outside") have a serious design flaw: "Mrs. Schwartz complains the buns are undercooked at the center." Ziggy's innovation: don't think bun, think bracelet. With an empty hole at the center, there's nothing to undercook, and even the finicky Mrs. Schwartz is impressed with the result. It's solid storytelling, and Joni's earth-toned drawings are a pleasing mix of flattened perspectives, dimensionality, and texture. There's a good joke about another one of Ziggy's inventions ("shulstilts," to help a short rabbi "see eye to eye with the bar mitzvah boys!"), but the overall approach is earnest and affirming. Ages 5–9. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
"Ziggy loves to come up with creative new ideas. Every day, he looks around the shtetl wondering what he can invent or improve upon. Unfortunately, none of his ideas work out quite the way he hopes they will. Then one day, after a visit to the bakery, Ziggy has his best idea yet. The baker makes wonderful, fluffy buns but the centers are always underdone. Ziggy's creative mind gets to work and the hole-in-the-middle bagel is born. He even thinks up a great way to stack and transport his new invention. Whimsical, colorful double page spreads with a comic sensibility accompany the amusing text. A bagel recipe is included along with background information about the history of the bagel as is a 'fun fact' about bagels having been brought on a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station. Cleverly written and tastily presented, this sweet book is highly recommended for ages 5-9." — Jewish Book World
Kirkus Reviews
2014-02-12
A young boy contributes to shtetl life by thinking up new ways to do ordinary things and, in the process, helps a baker perfect his "top secret boiled buns." Many of Ziggy's ideas have good intentions but aren't always practical, like the "shulstilts" he creates for the very short rabbi. Pleased, the rabbi anticipates being taller than the bar mitzvah students and being able to read the Torah with ease—until he falls forward and off the homemade stilts, losing his black hat. Undeterred, Ziggy goes home to think up some new ideas and in the night, dreams up his biggest one yet. He has thought of a way to help the baker bake his special buns so the center isn't always undercooked. Ziggy shows the baker how to create a dough circle instead of a bun to drop into the boiling water before baking. Perfectly puffed and beautifully browned, the new creation is akin to a bracelet and renamed a bagel for the German term. (A concluding note delves into the derivation of the word "bagel.") Illustrations are detailed and charming, utilizing digital collage to limn scenes of a brick-walled bakery in an Eastern European village (though the French-looking mustachio on Moishe, the baker, seems a tad out of place). The story's dialogue-driven, child-oriented approach makes a nifty starting point for this "origin tale" of a much-loved breakfast food. (recipe) (Picture book. 4-6)
