Dismayed by the disappearance of so many of his favourite independent local cafés, pubs and small shops, Neil Packer felt compelled to write. In his story, the people in the town are mesmerised by the smell of the bread baked by two elderly bakers and the town is a happy place. But the bakers are tired, and they're regularly approached by the man from the big factory in town who'd like to buy their thriving shop. Eventually they relent, and travel the world for a much-needed and overdue holiday but when they return they find a town bereft.
It took an Italian publisher, Camelozampa, to commission Neil to illustrate the story and bring it life – and they have done that with as much vigour and dedication as you could imagine. Perhaps because of their success with the Italian edition of Neil's previous book, One of a Kind, which won them three major awards for the Italian edition, they could see that there was enormous potential there. But in fact it was much more than that because the whole concept of vanishing artisan industries chimes so well with Italian culture.
Printed in Venice at the last independent printer in the city, and launched at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in April 2024 with tremendous style, this vital book is now published in Italian and Korean, and we hope to find an English-language publisher soon.
