The English Roses and butterfly figurines welcomed the guests. At the party, Madonna—dressed in a white satin frock—read from the book to a crowd consisting of teenagers and young children and later gave them gift baskets. Coleman Getty's idea was to have the literary press read the book for the first time at the party and write about the reaction it generated among the children. Only one photographer was allowed to take pictures of the event, and only the film crew from the BBC's children's news program, "Newsround", was allowed to film it. On September 15, 2003, Callaway released the picture book simultaneously
The English Bread Book considered the book "excellent, and we trust to be popular". Readers of the book, the reviewer thought, will become possessed of a store of useful knowledge, as well as scientific as practical, upon a question which is essentially that of every man, woman and child in the wide universe". In her work, "English Bread and Yeast Cookery", Elizabeth David writes that "The English Bread Book" heavily influenced and informed her work, and she owes Acton a debt for it. The food writer Elizabeth Ray observes that the book was less successful than "Modern Cookery", and was only reprinted in 1990.