The Cranberry Village

Chapter 5: A secret about bread; the story of Bundt the baker

In the middle of the Cranberry Village, there is a tiny, barely noticeable shack that sits by the street in the middle of a long row of shops. And hanging over the door is a crooked sign on which, if you look closely enough, you can barely make out the words “Bundt’s Bakery.” For Bundt the groundhog is far too busy making the best bread in the country to worry about making the outside of his shop fancy. He doesn’t need to; the smell of his tasty treats is enough.

As a matter of fact, what draws you to this little shack over all the other pretty shops on the street is the smell. It wafts out of the window, up and down the street, into the noses of all the animals in the Village. It is the warm, tantalizing smell of fresh breads, cakes, and cookies just coming out of the oven. And it is irresistible.

Bundt pours his life into his bread. For though he makes other things like cakes, pies, cookies, and donuts, he is most famed for his breads. Light sweet challah, colorful focaccia, thick crusty sourdough—and, of course, cranberry bread! – you name it, he makes it. And he scores them with every kind of design you can imagine. That means he uses a special tool to carve all kinds of beautiful shapes into the dough before he bakes it. He carves feathery branches, flowers, and birds. He engraves so skillfully that his pastries are almost too beautiful to eat. Almost.

Bundt wraps his artwork in paper and gives it to you himself. He likes to see you eat it right away, because he likes to see the light that comes into your eyes after your first bite.

Many times animals will come in and ask if they may watch him work. He always lets them. They enter his little shop, and it is warm from the ever-busy oven and full of the comfortable, homely scent of baking bread.

The baker himself is never still. He rushes this way and that in his little white apron and hat, mixing something here, molding a bit of dough there, checking on a loaf in the oven over here to see that it is browning nicely. Flour poofs everywhere as he works. There is flour on his apron and flour on his hands and flour on his head. Flour is smeared on his face when he wipes his forehead with his paw. Flour wafts onto his guests. But Bundt does not notice the mess. Bundt is entirely taken up with what he is doing—he must make the perfect bread. He is so focused on his bread that he is distracted by nothing.

He punches and folds the dough; he leans painstakingly over it to carve a beautiful design; he finally takes the golden-brown steaming loaf out of the oven. He takes his bread knife and saws through the crisp crust. His eager audience can hear the crackling of the bread as he works off a perfect slice. He slathers a thick layer of smooth yellow butter on top. The butter melts into all the little crannies and pockets in the bread. Then he holds out his buttery hands and offers them the slice. “Tell me what you think,” he says, and he looks down modestly. But they can see in his eyes a distant glimmer of pride and in the corner of his mouth the faint tugging of a smile, as he eagerly waits for them to taste what he has made.

Of course, this is what his guests have been hoping to do since first they entered his kitchen. They close their eyes, smile, and take a bite. Their eyes immediately light up. They chew slowly, savoring the taste. They swallow, lick the butter off their lips, open their eyes, and sigh. Then they say, “Wow. You must think a lot of bread.”

The baker grins from ear to ear and says, “I do; in fact, Bread is my life.”

And whenever he gives anyone a loaf, there is always a card pinned onto the paper in which the bread is wrapped. And this is what it says:

The Cranberry Secret:  "Jesus said to them, 'I am the Bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst" (John. 6:35).

Bundt the Baker thought baking bread for people was important. But he also knew that reminding people to feed their soul was more important.

It’s easy to be confused about what Jesus meant when He talked about being the Bread of life. You may be thinking, “I’m a follower of Jesus and I still need to eat and drink!” That’s true, but Jesus is not talking about actual eating and drinking. He’s talking about what goes on inside of you, the real you. On the outside, you eat food to keep your body working and healthy and to satisfy your hunger. But on the inside it is Jesus Who can keep the real you strong, healthy, and satisfied. This is why Jesus called Himself the Bread of life.

Jesus went on to say, “ 'If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever. And the Bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh'" (John 6:51).

Jesus gave His life for the world, which includes you! You broke God’s Law, and Jesus was punished for you. To come to Him, you must turn from your sin, asking Him for forgiveness and trust that He alone can take away your sin.

But it doesn’t stop there. Just like your body needs food every day to keep working, your soul needs Jesus every day to keep from sin. Make sure you talk to Jesus every day and read what He says to you in the Bible.

There are many ways you can feed your soul with Jesus, the Bread of life. You could read a chapter or two in your Bible every morning when you first wake up. Or maybe you can read a little bit before you go to bed. It may even be better for you to read your Bible at lunchtime. If reading is difficult for you, ask your parents or an older brother or sister to read the Bible to you. Maybe you could even read the Bible to a little brother or sister!

It might be a good idea to choose a verse you read that stood out to you and write it down. Then you can think about that verse all day.

As soon as you wake up in the morning, pray to Jesus. Thank Him for a new day. Thank Him for dying for you. Pray that He will help you to obey Him. At night as you lay in bed, talk to Him before you drift off to sleep. Thank Him for everything He has given you and done for you. Tell Him about things that may have gone wrong in the day or that made you sad. Tell Him about your sins and ask Him to forgive you.

Another thing you can do is memorize Bible verses. Choose a verse and write it down. Say the verse over and over again until you can repeat it without looking. Now you can have God’s Word in your heart and mind even when you don’t have a Bible. When you’re waiting in line or waiting for your parents or sitting in the car, see how many verses you can remember.

These are all ways you can spend time with Jesus and keep the real you healthy and free from sin. Whenever you sit down to a meal, always make sure you’ve fed the real you first!

Read all of John 6!

©2025 by Anchor & Fish Ministries. All Rights Reserved.

Featured artwork by Daniel Venturo. All other artwork by Joshua Venturo

Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Used by permission.  All rights reserved.