Written by
Alex Rhodes
Alex wrote the story from the lived rhythm of fatherhood and night work—the complicated tenderness of leaving for work while wanting a child to feel remembered.
The story behind the story
It began with night work, bedtime, and a promise.
The Baker and The Bear grows from one family question: how do you help love feel close when work carries a parent out into the night?
Illustrated by
Funti
Funti gave Luna, Papa Bear, the bakery, and the moonlit spaces their painterly warmth, carrying emotion through light, posture, hands, and small details.
What the story keeps
The child does not need the feeling erased. The feeling needs somewhere gentle to land.
The Hug Button, the moon, the bakery light, and the notes are all different ways of giving distance a physical shape. That emotional thread remains at the center of the books and every family resource around them.