Sandra Chafen

The Baker Man Sandra Chafen

As the story unfolds a spoon, kitchen knife and spatula are dancing around like little children playing by themselves when Mom and Dad have left the house. It seems to be a fantasy at first but gains significance when the character, Mr. Hobbs, dreams of going to the beach, a departure from his usual way of life, just as his cooking tools had departed from their own ways in his absence. It is as though the flour that has been the principal ingredient in his life of baking cakes and cookies has succeeded in doing something to help him right away. He is given hope, which will help him to achieve a degree of independence.