[.ca] Monsieur Saguette and His Baguette (ISBN 1553379780)

Amazon.ca:
Nothing goes better with a bowl of hot carrot soup than freshly baked bread. So Monsieur Saguette, the hero of this winsome picture book by celebrated American children's author and illustrator Frank Asch, leaves his pot of soup to simmer and walks to the local bakery to buy a baguette. On his way home, the unassuming Saguette gets caught up in a series of daring rescues--saving a cat from a tree, a baby from an alligator, a man from a robber, and himself from an open manhole--all with the help of his crusty (er, make that trusty) baguette. Asch, whose more than 60 books for children include such classics as I Can Roar Like a Lion and I Can Blink Like an Owl, as well as the popular Moonbear preschool series, uses rhyme and repetition to great effect. Each of Monsieur Saguette's adventures ends in the same way, with the resourceful little Frenchman tossing off his act of kindness ("'It was nothing,' said Monsieur Saguette. 'Goo goo,' said the baby"), while the internal rhyme of baguette with Saguette makes this amusing story pleasing to read yet never cloying. Asch's gentle illustrations (created in Photoshop) suggest a fanciful French townscape where it is not unusual to encounter a conductor leading a marching band with a baguette. Indeed, much of the charm of Monsieur Saguette and His Baguette comes from its Frenchness. Monsieur Saguette wears a jaunty beret, removes his neck scarf only once--to transform his loaf of bread into a flag for help--and shows a European reverence for the maxim "waste not, want not." Even his crumbs are put to good use: "'Now you too can enjoy my baguette,' he said to the birds on the street. 'Bon appétit!' And the birds replied, 'Tweet! Tweet!'" (Ages 3 to 7) --Lisa Alward

Thank goodness Mr. Saguette never heard of Dr. Atkins!:
With so many children's books hitting the market every year, it takes a superior sense of fun to stand out. Frank Asch's hysterically bizarre "Monsieur Saguette and His Baguette" has the wit to do just that. The title character, a simple Frenchman with a predilection for soup and bread, visits his local boulangerie in search of his favorite staple. Baguette in hand, he then sets off on a series of rescues, saving the day with his all-purpose baked good. When France is crawling with crocodilians ready to consume infants, trust Mr. Saguette to find a way to wedge the gator's jaws open with his trusty lunch. Robbers stand no chance against his loaf; marching bands (France is loaded with them, right?) can only march thanks to this man's love for bread. Like "The Simpsons" inanimate carbon rod, Mr. Saguette's baguette continually saves the day. It's about as daffy as daffy gets. Everyone we've shared this book with has laughed at its wackiness. My wife wonders why Mr. Saguette would want to eat his baguette after a gator's slobbered all over it, but who's enforcing logic on this food-obsessed Frenchman? There's nothing not to like here, from the simple illustrations to the witty story. Author Asch has created a clever character who is both whimsical and sincere. I hope for all of us that we get more of this Gallic gourmand. Highly recommended for young children...and their parents, too.