Steven Salerno just received his advance copy of "Pantaloon," the 1951 Little Golden Book classic that he re-illustrated for 2010 release by Random House. The story is about an energetic poodle who is determined to become the Baker's new assistant, and will stop at nothing to do so...

"People who have seen the illustrations already, have all commented on how delicious and tempting all the pies, cakes, breads, cookies and pastries seen throughout look," remarks Steve. "Out of curiosity, I just did a quick count of how many tasty items I actually illustrated... counting everything seen on the cover, endpapers, inside illustrations, etc... I think there are about 490 or so! How many pounds did I gain while working on this book? I'm not saying... "