The Cook and the King

Written in Julia Donaldson's familiar rhyming style, The Cook and the King is a lovely story of a hungry King's search for a new cook. Wobbly Bob is keen to please the King, in his new chef's whites, but afraid of everything. Poor Bob gets the King to name his favourite dish knowing that if he could serve it to the King then the prestigious job would undoubtedly be his. Fresh fish and chips, how hard can it be for Bob to serve this culinary feast? Again and again Bob cries for help, he's scared, terribly scared of just about everything. He's frightened of fishing in case he gets his new apron wet or too scared of worms and ants, that might crawl into his new pants, as he digs for potatoes. What follows is a tale illustrating the benefits of teamwork and the pleasure and success that teamwork can achieve. This is a delightfully funny and repetitive story that will appeal to young children and would be great for encouraging them to join in with story telling. The Cook and the King can't fail to amuse and motivate kids to read and learn. Picture book / Ages 4+ / Reviewed by Sam Phillips, teacher.

Suggested Reading Age 3+

The newest release from the fantastically funny duo Julia Donaldson and David Roberts. There was once a hungry king who needed a new cook. Although there was an abundance of applicants, none of them could live up to the King's high expectations and make a dish that was just right. They were all 'too hot! Too cold! Too sour! Or too smelly!' The hungry king thought he would never meet a chef that was just right for him. That is, until in came Wobbly Bob. A shy, frightful cook who would love to have the job of cooking for the king if only he dared. He was a wimp! Afraid of everything. Our hungry noble King offers to help the cook, not realising 'he is actually doing ALL the work' - as my young daughter shrewdly observed. This beautiful picture book includes all of our favourite things that we would expect to see from Julia Donaldson and Roberts alike; well-paced rhythmic rhyming text, repetition, it's timeless and witty with stunning illustrations. The illustrations and text are well placed within a large white background on each page making them really stand out and the text easy to read as it was in short manageable chunks for young readers to enjoy and linked directly to the images on the page. If you are a big fan of Donaldson and Roberts' collaborations, keep your eye out for a fantastic treat within the first few pages. My daughter was ridiculously excited that she had spotted a character we had met in a previous story. We don't want to give too much away but we immediately got out the book and explored the illustrator's clever links. There is lots to explore in this book in terms of food and cooking, and this text could be used in the classroom as a stimulus/starting point to get children thinking about where food comes from as the king tells the cook 'It's time to dig' when he wants chips. Children could be invited to design a dish they think the king would love and then actually cook it themselves (sandwiches maybe?). As the story ended we were left with lots of questions about how the King and cook's partnership would work and I'm sure the children would generate some of their own too. Being so scared of cooking anything alone, it might be an idea to have children writing some cooking instructions for the chef to follow based on their chosen dish. This is a fun story that I'm sure will be asked for again and again. Picture book / Ages 4+ / Reviewed by Nikki Stiles, teacher.

Suggested Reading Age 3+