Seven Loaves of Bread

Down on the farm, Milly bakes seven loaves of bread every morning, distributing them among animals, neighbors and friends, and saving the last loaf for sister Rose. But their pleasant domestic routine is disrupted when Milly takes sick and Rose, ``who didn't like to work any harder than she had to,'' grudgingly takes over the baking, with comically disastrous consequences. The indolent Rose first bakes six loaves, then five, and so on, with the result that a succession of hungry animals wreaks havoc in the garden and an elderly neighbor goes without bread. Only when Rose learns the true value of Milly's wisdom--``It's as easy to make seven as it is to make one''--is she able to restore order. Wolff ( The Woodcutter's Coat ) effectively paces her tale through judicious repetitions. Debut illustrator Keller delivers striking art, scratchboard embellished with a palette dominated by pinks, blues and violets. She captures the homey humor with stylized compositions that freeze the exaggeratedly expressive characters: busy Milly smiles beatifically as she gives the goat bread; a despairing Rose lifts wrist to brow as she surveys the Herculean tasks before her. By the end, Rose, too, grins (albeit ruefully) as she serves a beaming Milly a slice of just-baked bread--Rose now ``only works as hard as she has to.'' Ages 4-up. (Aug.)