I think this book is for primary students. It goes through mostly pictures about what this father and daughter do together at home which is bake together. However, it also shows that the dad works really early in the morning and the little girl's routine is based around this.

Aloving father bakes at work and at home to make a life for his child and himself.

Under a full moon, Dad wakes and walks to work. Streetlights glow as an elevated train passes, and the Rise Up Bakery beckons with its warm light. Inside, Dad works side by side through the night with racially diverse bakers of different ages, returning home in the morning. While he rests, his capable child keeps busy till it’s time to wake Dad. Together they make bread and share in small moments while waiting for the dough to rise—reading, gardening, playing dress-up and soccer. At last they enjoy the teddy-bear–shaped bread on their rooftop before Dad tucks his little one into bed. These peaceful vignettes weave a picture of love and devotion, of parenthood and childhood enjoyed to its fullest. Heartfelt painterly illustrations offer a much-needed depiction of the diversity of fathers. Here, Dad is of Asian descent with a shaved bald head, brown skin, and an abundance of tattoos. Yamasaki’s simple text is accessible to even young readers. Her author’s note also brings a new dimension to the story, as she dedicates it to families affected by incarceration and the organizations helping them to rebuild their lives. Subtle hints that incarceration is a part of the main characters’ past are in the opening, wordless spreads, showing the child reading a box of letters from Dad.(This book was reviewed digitally.)

Full of quiet moments of joy and affirmation. (Picture book. 3-7)

-Kirkus Review

What a welcome change this book is from the usual boring primers for just-beginning readers, aged 3 and over.

A little girl’s muscled and tattooed dad works at a bakery, leaving for work when it is still dark. When he comes back home, it is still morning, and his daughter lets him sleep for a while. Then she wakes him and together they make bread and do chores around the house. At night they share some teddy-bear shaped bread on a table on their rooftop, and then Dad tenderly tucks her in bed with her stuffed teddy bear.

Yamasaki, who is both author and illustrator, uses very spare prose with matching pictures that will make easy reading for beginners, such as “We go to the kitchen. We mix, we knead, we roll. We wait, and we wait.”

The vividly colored paintings show the warm affection between father and daughter as they move through the day.

Back matter includes a note by Yamasaki that explains she envisioned the father as a former prisoner, and talks about the effects of incarceration of parents upon children. She writes:

“Every day, incarcerated mothers and fathers across the country parent their children with tremendous love and unbelievable resilience. Eventually, most people will return home to their families, to their communities. But the return is not easy….”

She indicates that she has collaborated with organizations devoted to helping such individuals rebuild their lives. One such organization is Detroit’s On the Rise Bakery, which seems to be the inspiration for this particular story. She provides hypertext links for six of these organizations that help the formerly incarcerated.

On Yamasaki’s website, you can even download a recipe for Teddy Bear Bread.

Evaluation: Giving children a mirror in which they can see their own lives is so important, and here Yamasaki contributes to a neglected area of representation. As she states in her Note, there are over five million American children who have experienced parental incarceration, and many more who have experienced it in their extended families. This positive look at the humanity and love of such ex-prisoners is a welcome addition to children’s literature. In addition, the portrayal of strength including love and tenderness and non-gender-stereotypical activities is most welcome. ( )

The author and illustrator is a muralist who works with incarcerated parents and their children. This beautiful picture book is the story of a young girl and her father after his re-entry into society after being released from prison. This backstory is not explicitly stated in the book, but told through the artwork. The first image is a little girl in her room getting a box of letters and drawing and writing letters to her Papa. The book is a snapshot of one day for the two of them. It starts with Dad waking before dawn to work at a bakery and coming home to rest while his daughter starts her day. She has breakfast and waits patiently to wake him up after he rests. They begin a special baking project together and do all kinds of wonderful, fun, and most importantly, normal things while they wait for the bread to bake. It's a beautiful story about the love between a father and daughter and shows that wonderful and joyful things come with patience. It's terrific to see a positive story about life after incarceration and overcoming separation. ( )