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Summary
Summary
The Cook and the King is a picture book about an unlikely friendship, a fun and hilarious romp from bestselling team, author Julia Donaldson and illustrator David Roberts.
The king searches his kingdom far and wide for the perfect cook. He's very particular, and none of the cooks can get the job done just right. Until the king meets Wobbly Bob.
The king thinks Wobbly Bob might be the perfect fit, but there's just one small hitch--Wobbly Bob is afraid of everything. He's afraid that he'll nick himself with the sharp kitchen knives, and he's afraid he'll get dirt from the vegetable garden on his new apron. Wobbly Bob needs a companion to help him feel brave, so the king himself tags along every step of the way.
"Donaldson's thumping lines scan as confidently as ever, while expressive characters painted by Roberts 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." -- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Author Notes
Julia Catherine Donaldson was born on Sept. 16, 1948 in London. She is a British writer and playwright and the 2011-2013 Children's Laureate. She is known for her rhyming stories for children. These include: The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and Stick Man. She began writing songs for children's television but has focused on writing books when the words of one of her songs - A Squash and a Squeeze were made into a children's book in 1993. She has over 180 published works with 120 of them intended for school use and include her Songbirds phonic reading scheme, which is part of the Oxfird Reading Tree.
She has won several awards including: The Stockport Book Award for her title The Troll, The Oxfordshire Book Award for her title Zog and The Oldham Book Award for her title Jack and the Flumflum Tree. In 2015 The Gruffalo made The New Zealand Best Seller List.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
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) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Donaldson and Roberts cook up a treat for young readers.After yet another soggy pizza from a box, the king decides he needs a cook "like anything." He "trie[s] out lots and lots of cooks" and decides on Wobbly Bob, who looks the part but has "feet that [shuffle] and hands that [shake]" and admits to being "a bit of a wimp." Wobbly Bob may well turn out to be more royal disaster than royal cook. The king fancies a supper of fish and chips, but Wobbly Bob is scared of everythingfishing, digging the spuds, chopping, and frying. "I'm scared! I'm scared! I'm terribly scared," is Wobbly Bob's constant refrain, but the cheerful king helps every step of the way. "He fished and he fished like anything"; "he dug and he dug like anything"; "he chopped and he chopped like anything." In fact, the king does all of the work and congratulates Wobbly Bob for the "delicious dish," which they sit down and eat together. Donaldson's lively rhyming text, tailor-made for reading aloud, is nicely complemented by Roberts' colorful illustrationsstrong on facial expressions that add to the story so that no explanation is needed when Wobbly Bob looks quizzical when the king congratulates him on his "great cooking" and gives him the job. Complexions in this medieval European-esque kingdom vary from pale to ruddy. A delicious cooking adventure that storytimers will love like anything. (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
A king seeks a new chef, but no one can please the hungry monarch. His last option is an admitted wimp, Wobbly Bob. When the king orders him to catch a fish and prepare it with chips, the nervous fellow cries Help! as he imagines everything that could go wrong (a shark! A wet apron!). The king agrees to help and catches several big fish. Wobbly Bob, equally terrified of digging up potatoes, chopping them, or using a frying pan, watches the king do the work. Later, delighted with the meal, the king says, Congratulations, Wobbly Bob. / You may be a wimp, but you've got the job! Donaldson, who was the 2011-2013 British Children's Laureate, creates a rollicking, rhyming text that uses repeated lines effectively and reads aloud beautifully. The absurdity of the situation heightens the humor, which builds in the artwork as well as the text. 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.--Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2019 Booklist
