Big Brown Rooster is sick of chicken feed. So along with his friends--Turtle, Iguana, and Potbellied Pig--he sets out to make the most magnificent strawberry shortcake in the whole wide world. But there’s one problem: none of his friends knows how to cook! The team bravely forges ahead, and with Rooster’s help, they learn how to measure flour (not with a ruler) and how to beat an egg (not with a baseball bat). But can they keep Pig from gobbling up all the ingredients? Take an old family recipe, add four funny friends, and mix in some hilarious cooking confusion and you have a picture book treat for children of all ages!
"Always chicken feed! Day after day--year after year--I'm sick of it!" squawked Big Brown Rooster.
In this deliciously imaginative book by sisters Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel, a hungry and fed-up rooster suddenly recalls his famous Great-Granny, a fabulous chef who penned a book of recipes for future generations. He hunts down her cookbook--
The Joy of Cooking Alone by L R Hen.
Rooster carefully turned the pages. "So many recipes--and I thought she just baked bread! Look at the strawberry shortcake!...Yes sirree--just like Great-Granny, I'll be a cook! COOK- A-DOODLE-DO-O-O!"
Every child's natural curiosity for cooking will likewise come bursting forth when they settle down to this remarkable tale. There is a great basic story here, with plenty of creative spins on
The Little Red Hen. In this version, Rooster--rebuffed by Dog, Cat, and Goose, just like his Granny was--finds companionship in the kitchen with Turtle, Iguana, and Potbellied Pig. As Turtle reads the recipe aloud, Iguana continuously confuses the instructions to great comedic effect. (He tries to cut butter with scissors and beat an egg with a baseball bat, for example.) Pig, on the other hoof, asks over and over for his chance to taste the batter. ("Looks mighty dry in there," said Pig. "Perhaps I should taste it.") Stevens' sure, friendly illustrations evoke tremendous amount of character and activity in lightning-fast time. Take, for example, the cooking hats all the creatures don when they get to the kitchen: Turtle sports a copper-bottomed soup pot on his head, Iguana wields a candy-striped oven mitt, and Pig is wearing a kitchen towel, tied kerchief-style. They're ready!
Scattered through the story are sidebars of cooking tips that offer information on the ingredients, measurements, and techniques mentioned in the text. (Even if kids don't want to read them, they're quite handy for adults answering questions while reading.) Kids will love this lively, slapstick story of teamwork in action, and no doubt want to try their hands at making strawberry shortcake! Fortunately, the recipe for "Great-Granny's Magnificent Strawberry Shortcake" is in the back. (Ages 4 and older) --Jean Lenihan, Amazon.com
