THE BOY, THE BAKER, THE MILLER AND MORE

In the cumulative manner of ""The Old Woman and Her Pig,"" a hungry boy asks the baker's wife for bread, and is sent to get the keys to the cupboard from her husband, who asks that the boy first bring him an apple from the gardener. Thus begins a hunt best summarized in the boy's own report (set down by Berson with pictures in place of the by now oft repeated key words here italicized): ""I got the grain from the miller's storehouse and gave it to the shepherd. The shepherd gave me the wool which I gave to the village smith and he gave me the sickle to cut the grass for the cow. The milkmaid gave me some milk for the cat to chase the mouse from the gardener's house. The gardener gave me an apple from his tree and I gave the apple to the baker for his pie and then he gave me the key. That is why it took so long to get a mere key."" The baker's wife then concludes that ""Never should anyone have to work so hard for so little"" -- but a picture book audience won't mind the runaround through Berson's clear, glowing French countryside.