Michelin, a portrait painter, hasn’t had much business since she painted the mayor of Alaga and his family—and no wonder! She just can’t seem to help painting exactly what she sees. So when she sees the fat mayor, his warty wife, and their cross-eyed children sat for their portrait, she looked very carefully at them, then painted what she saw.

Now she has been hired to paint her Aunt Liliane and her uncle Ferdinand. Michelin’s stomach aches. Ferdinand and Liliane are bakers. They are so fat, they break chairs. When Beauty knocked on their door, they must have been kneading dough. Whatever is Michelin going to do.

Reviews:

“The picture book’s combination of humor and insight provides an unlabored opportunity for discussing compromises between truth and consequence in social relationships and—as bonus—here’s a piquant introduction to symbolic representation in art.” BCCB

“A picture book with something to say.” Booklist