The Cook and the King

A delicious cooking adventure that storytimers will love like anything.

Roberts’ pencil drawings, brightened with colors that stand out against the white backgrounds, illustrate the story while adding creative details. An amusing picture book that's fun to share.

The redoubtable Donaldson (The Gruffalo) starts her story with a hungry king auditioning prospective cooks. He's a sensible-looking monarch with a mustache and a paunch, and from the line of be-aproned hopefuls he selects Wobbly Bob, a self-deprecating fellow with mismatched socks. But when asked to make fish and chips and to begin by gathering the ingredients, Wobbly Bob can't face the trial ("I'm scared! I'm scared! I'm terribly scared!"). In response, the king loads Bob into a Viking longboat and does the fishing for him: " 'I'll help you fish, ' said the hungry king, / So he fished and he fished like anything." The gesture also establishes a pattern: the king suggests a next step, Wobbly Bob explains nervously why he can't comply ("I'm scared of worms and I'm scared of ants./ They might crawl into my nice new pants"), and the king, showing genuine sympathy, takes over the next task. Donaldson's thumping lines scan as confidently as ever, while expressive characters painted by Roberts (Rosie Revere, Engineer) transmit emotion with great versatility, from fear to absorption to embarrassed relief. The image of a king in glad collaboration offers a gentle vision of how to rule. Ages 3-7. (May)

The marvelous team behind The Flying Bath are back to show readers how a timid chef comes to work for a persnickety king. During a trial run at fish and chips, each page's quatrain explains how the cook, Wobbly Bob, pleads, "I'm scared! I'm scared! I'm terribly scared!" before each step of preparation, so the king executes every task himself, from catching fish and digging up potatoes to chopping and frying. The chef steps back as the hungry king creates culinary masterpieces. Donaldson's storytelling is ever bright, and Roberts's lush cartoons masterfully mix the luxurious with the ridiculous. A tapestry unicorn rolls an eye as the king declines pizza and a cat claws away a half-burned wiener from the table. The patterns and textures beg to be touched. VERDICT This visual festival will be a hit at storytime.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA