The Cook and the King (Aziza's Secret Fairy Door, 293)

Product Information

In Poems to Perform, Julia Donaldson has chosen poems with performance by children in mind, and her notes and ideas on performing them are included in a special section at the end of the ... Read more

Written by the brilliant Julia Donaldson and stunningly illustrated by the award-winning Sara Ogilvie, T he Hospital Dog is a big-hearted tale about a very special, very brave dog.<... Read more A hairy mammoth takes a cheeky little baby on a thrilling ride through a moonlit landscape populated by a sabre-toothed tiger, a leaping hare, a laughing hyena and even, just maybe, by a big brown ... Read more The Cook and the King' by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by David Roberts, is a cute story that shows how working together, and sometimes working alone with someone by your side, can lead to success. When the King hires Wobbly Bob to be his new cook, he gets more than he bargained for. Wobbly Bob tells the King from the moment he is hired that he is a “bit of a wimp” but would love the job. The King, eager to have someone fill the position, takes Bob on, but soon he finds himself catching the fish, chopping potatoes, frying everything up, and more. Wobbly Bob is too scared to do any of these things. The King, though, takes on the challenge, encouraging Wobbly Bob to let him help. In the end, the final product is made by the King, but he is shown to have enjoyed the process of working with Bob to do the work and make the food, priding Bob (and himself, by extension) on a job well done. The ensuing story shows the king learning to take care of his own needs while teaching the squirrelly chef what really needs doing in the kitchen. The book is funny and a sly mini-documentary on getting people to help themselves. After all, we only truly appreciate a reward when we’ve earned it fairly and through our own efforts. 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.

Summary

As with all brilliant children’s books the final words are missing. You will have to listen carefully but a little voice will say “Again.” and if not too tired “Again please.” Rosie's Hat isn't just any old hat. When a gust of wind sweeps it off her head, it goes off on a whole hatful of adventures! When a crime needs solving, there’s only one dog for the job! Join Nell the Detective and help solve the mystery of the missing books. Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.

Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers. There's an Owl in My Towel is a beautiful and engaging book for little ones from Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb, the creators of the bestselling The Paper Dolls and The Everyw... Read moreI also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs. One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading. My real breakthrough was The Gruffalo, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately – he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow – but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.

A fantastic bathtime adventure from the stellar picture-book partnership of Julia Donaldson and David Roberts – perfect for reading together. Old folk were kids however, some even had the delight of reading to their children and in later life still the joy of sharing books with grandchildren. My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes. A laugh-out-loud pirate adventure from the stellar picture-book partnership of Julia Donaldson and David Roberts.I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him). Written by Julia Donaldson, the author of The Gruffalo, and illustrated by prize-winning Karen George, Wake Up Do, Lydia Lou! is a gentle and playful bedtime read - full of fun sou... Read more The poor fellow even gets the king to share perfect meal idea and if he could serve it to the king the prestigious job would surely be his. but the king is very fussy; he tries all the cooks in the kingdom, but no one is good enough. Then he spots Wobbly Bob. Maybe Bob can whip up his favourite dinner? But how will Bob be able to cook for the king when he's scared of . . . well, everything?!