Bread Days offers a tender look at the ways things change when we lose someone close to us. This book tells a story of grief beyond the vast, overall concept of loss and instead focuses on the relatively small, day to day, practical changes when a family is disrupted by loss. The metaphor of the health of the sourdough starter is particularly poignant.

I adored this story so dearly. It shows all of us how to keep a loved one close to us when they are no longer here through the power of the traditions we shared with them. It will be a source of comfort for so many children and parents dealing with grief.

My son and I read this book together, and overall I enjoyed the premise. The illustrations were fantastic and the recipe on the endpapers was a nice touch. Where this book fell short for me was it was too ambiguous for a children's picture book. In the story, the daughter and father have a tradition of making bread together on Bread Days. Suddenly, the dad is gone and now the daughter can no longer make bread. It's implied a few pages later that he has died because the illustrations depict him as a ghost. I had to go back to reread to make sure I hadn't missed anything. It made for good conversation with my son, however, having him try to tell me what he thought happened to the dad. The pacing at the end also didn't work for me, perhaps being just as abrupt as the dad suddenly vanishing. Cute, meaningful, touching, but not very memorable in the end.

Bread Days is a sweet story about a family's practice of making sourdough bread that instructs and informs and encourages the reader to enjoy the practice of working on a project with your loved one. The message that I took away is to share a process so everlasting memories can be formed. The illustrations are so charming and soft, which causes the reader to engage. The recipe is in the back for all to use to make their own bread. I enjoyed the story from the cover to the author's message about her past practice of making bread with her own Papa. I enjoyed this story very much.
Thank you to the author-illustrator, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley in exchange for a review. This was a sweet heartwarming story!

My daughter says “5 stars! I loved it!”

An amazing book. A very heartwarming read that talks in a very sweet way about losing someone and the importance of keeping them in our lives, with the small things like making bread.

The illustrations are simply stunning, soft and detailed and add so much to the whole story, I would definitely suggest this book for kids around the age of 4

How sweet is this story? It made me tear up. It’s a reminder for us as care givers to take our time with our children. we are creating memories that will last a life time. It’s so special. So was this book! I’m a sourdough baker and my son got so excited to see them doing what we do when we bake! And so did I! It’s not often you see a book about sourdough for kids! We loved this book. I cannot wait to add it to our home library.

Thank you NetGalley, Hannah Chung and Astra Publishing House for the early copy!

Bread Days is a very cute story. I am often looking for stories with diverse characters, and was excited to find a book with an Asian family. I probably would not buy Bread Days for my classroom, as it does show the young narrator experiencing loss and grief. However, I do think children K-2 would enjoy this story, and it is one that I would read to my daughter. I thought it was especially cute that the narrator and her grandpa named their starter.

Thank you to Astra Publishing House and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

Bread Days is a fantastic and heartwarming children’s book about a grandfather and granddaughter who bake sourdough together. I’m so thankful that I got to read this book with my son as I am a sourdough baker myself and was inspired to start since my father, also known as papa, is an avid baker. The little illustrations of notes around the kitchen and post it notes reminded me of him and made me teary eyed. Both myself and son enjoyed this story very much and the story and illustrations were beautiful. This is a great story to share with children so they may understand grieving of grandparents and family members and family traditions that are continued on in their honor.

Thank you to the author for sharing her story with us and thank you so much to NetGalley for the digital ARC!

I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t all the emotion! This touching story highlights the bond between father and daughter as they bake sourdough bread together. However, when Nara’s father passes away, Nara is saddened that there is no more bread being made and the kitchen is too neat. She decides to take out the sourdough starter (named Paolo) and to her dismay the starter isn’t active. The story ends with Nara and her mother baking some sourdough bread together and remembering Papa.

The illustrations are delightful and the story packs a lot of emotion for a picture book. The author’s note at the end left tears in my eyes. Grief is handled graciously and the author showcases a healthy way to navigate the emotion. This will be a delightful read aloud and might even open the conversation regarding loss of a loved one.

This book made my heart break and heal within a few pages. The story touches on grief for kids in a relatable way. It is not about how Papa passes, but it is about how to remember your loved one and find ways to keep traditions alive.
One note I had was I wish the author introduced Paolo a bit more. I would love to have seen Papa and Nara care for Paolo a bit more.
The illustrations are beautiful and I loved this book.

This is a fairly simple yet effective book for young readers. I will also say that I think this book adds something new to the world of kids' books, because not everyone has the idea to write about the comfort and familiarity of breadmaking. Another great thing about this story is that it has layers. On the surface there's baking, deeper there's loss of a loved one, and at its core this book is about connection and hope. While a young audience isn't going to analyze the book as much as I did, the layers of this book still matter and hold some sort of an impact on the reader, regardless of age. Lastly, the illustrations were truly spectacular, and I wouldn't change a single thing about this entire book, either writing- or drawing-wise. Bravo!!

This was a beautiful book full of tradition. I will definitely be sharing this with my students and also inspired me to make bread with them. I truly enjoyed it!

What a sweet story with adorable illustrations!

Nara and her father love to bake bread together, and one of Nara's favorite kind of days is their Bread Days. But when her father is suddenly gone, nothing feels right and the Bread Days stop. Eventually, Nara takes matters (and ingredients) into her own hands, and with the help of her mother, Bread Days return -- along with the warmth in the kitchen and the comforting reminder of her father's love.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The love of baking bread and sharing the baking and the giving is a great gift that is passed on from one generation to the next. Learning to go on baking and giving is a great lesson, if a hard one.
The illustrations by the author are imaginative and tell much of the story in plump figures and muted colors.
Well suited for reading alone or WITH someone of any age, including ESL, and is a fine gift for anyone, but especially to a school or your local public library!
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected digital Galley on Thorium PDF from Astra Publishing House | Astra Young Readers via NetGalley. Pub Date Sep 30, 2025 @astrakidsbooks
#BreadDays by Hannah Chung @_hchung @childrensbookcouncil @goodreads #kidsbook #giving
#picturebook #illustration #childrensbooks #imagination #aanhpi #aapi #aapiheritagemonth #preorder #childrensbook #bread #sourdough #kidlit #loss #change #togetherness #baking

This is perfect! My daughter has recently started her reading journey, so I have added a few books to my ipad mini for her to read on kindle when on the go. The cover is so cute and I love the colors / illustrations! This was also a big hit with her since she has recently started baking bread with me! She feeds my starter everyday, and loves to give it fun little names.

ARC courtesy of Astra Publishing House and Net Galley. This story is about a family bread making tradition. There are a new couple of vocabulary words to help children better understand the tradition. I think the illustrations fit great with the storyline. I do think there was a missed opportunity to discuss emptions/feelings when the grandfather is "gone". The author could have incorporated how the main character was feeling and why they did what they did. Overall, it had a good message!

I thought this might be a nice book to read to a child before you baked bread with them but I'm not so sure. The father in this book just disappears without a trace with no discussion about it from the mother. I found his disappearance really disturbing. I as an adult understand the father has passed away and the author is showing how her bread days continued on but I don't think a child would understand. I don't think this is a good book about death at all for a child.

Goodness gracious, I did not expect this to hit me with such feelings. I loved how personal this story was. Food has such a way of connecting with with other people and our memories.