Cook-a-Doodle-Doo!

by Janet Stevens, Susan Stevens Crummel

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 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!

Genres: Picture Books, Food, Animals, Childrens, Cooking, Mathematics, Humor

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Janet Stevens began drawing as a child. Pictures decorated her walls, mirrors, furniture and school work -- including math assignments. While this didn't always sit well with her teachers, it was what she loved to do.

Janet’s father was in the Navy therefore she moved a great deal and attended many schools while growing up.

After graduating from high school in Hawaii in 1971 she landed a job creating Hawaiian designs for fabric. The printed fabric was then made into aloha shirts and muumuus. After she graduated from the University of Colorado in 1975 with a degree in Fine Arts Janet began compiling a portfolio of “characters”, bears in tutus, rhinos in sneakers, and walruses in Hawaiian shirts. In 1977, she attended “The Illustrator's Workshop” in New York City, where it was suggested that her characters might find a home in a children's book. Luckily for libraries (and children's book readers in general), publishers agreed and her first book was published in 1979.

Janet is the author and illustrator of many original stories and frequently collaborates with her sister, Susan Stevens Crummel. Her trademark humorous animals also accompany the texts by such authors as Eric Kimmel and Coleen Salley,

Janet has received numerous book awards, including a Caldecott Honor Award, Time Magazine’s Ten Best Children’s Books , the Wanda Gág Best Read-Aloud Book. Child Magazine’s Best Books of the Year.. Janet's books have been named ALA Notables and have repeatedly appeared on the New York Times Best Seller List.

She is particularly proud of her state book awards, voted on by children -- which include Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, New York, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Nebraska and Washington. Janet has received the prestigious Texas Bluebonnet Award twice.

Reviews

[Bo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun book!! The author writes with a great sense of humor, and I found myself chuckling out loud as I read this book to myself. The illustrations (which she also did) are a great complement to the story as well. This book would make a great read-aloud to children, but be sure to first read to them "The Little Red Hen," particularly if they are not familiar with that story.

Additionally, it is a simple introduction to cooking, as many of the pages have a side bar that take the reader through the steps to make strawberry shortcake.

I will definitely be reading this again with my grandchildren!

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 5 out of 5]

When my son was a year and a half old my husband was teaching night school to help make ends meet. On nights when he was teaching I had to make dinner and keep my son out of trouble at the same time. The only way I could do both was to teach him how to cook.

The cooking lessons (scrambled eggs, biscuits and other simple things) were a hit. He and now his sister loves to cook. So Cook-a-doodle-doo! by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel was a perfect picture book for the three of us to share.

The rooster main character is the grandson of the little red hen. He has inherited her cook book and sets out to make strawberry shortcake. The rooster though has better friends than his grandmother and knows how to ask them for help.

As someone who has taught (and is still teaching) two children how to cook, I found the book hilarious. The children enjoyed it too, recognizing the mistakes the friends were making.

The book includes the recipe the friends were baking. We didn't get a chance to try it out but maybe the next time we check out the book, we will.

[Candice · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amusing and informative book about the Little Red Hen's great-grandson. Rooster is tired of eating chicken feed every day. He remembers the story about his great-grandmother, goes looking for her cookbook (The Joy of Cooking Alone), and decides to make a strawberry shortcake. Unlike his great-grandmother, he is able to find some friends, Turtle, Iguana, and Pig, to help. As the three set about to make a strawberry shortcake, and a mess, the sidebars explain cooking procedures and terms. However, there is one inaccuracy. The author states that dry ingredients can be measured in cups or grams and that one cup equals 227 grams. One cup of flour equals 227 grams, but one cup of sugar is more than that. Too bad that the editors didn't catch it. Nevertheless, it is a delightful book on the joys of cooking, and eating, and friendship. Great-grandma's recipe for strawberry shortcake is at the end.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I *LOVE* this book! Cook-a-Doodle-Doo updates the classic tale of the Little Red Hen, by telling us the story of her great-grandson, Big Brown Rooster, and how he and a few friends do some cooking of their own. Janet Stevens' art beautifully illustrates the story, rich with color and movement. The book also includes sidebars that define and explain different cooking terms, and at the end, you will find the recipe Big Brown Rooster and his friends used in the story. Best part of all? The story is FULL of puns, my favorite! I would recommend this book to children and adults alike, especially if you enjoy word play, retellings of old folk tales, and wonderful art.

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

My family loved this one! Very cute and exemplifies teamwork.

[jenna Hudrlik · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter recently decided that she wants to take cooking classes but there arent any where we live. I am now trying to teach her a few things myself. This book really helped to explain a lot of things that I would not even thought of to tell her. It is simple yet has a lot of information following some animals that want to learn how to cook strawberry shortcake. We are now planning on making the recipe for it that is included in the back of the book. Nicely done.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely darling! What a fun way to introduce cooking concepts to children! It also teaches about teamwork and being patient with each other.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fun story told from the perspective of the Little Red Hen's grandson. My kids had lots of fun with this one, and of course we had to make the strawberry shortcake when we were done.

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

2022
Gift from Harper's grandmother

[Hannah Beth (Hannah's Book Cafe) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so cute and I loved the dedication.

[Fallon Villarreal · Rating 5 out of 5]

In “Cook-A-Doodle-Doo” Red Rooster decides that he is tired of feed and wants something better to eat. He decides to find his great grandmother’s cooking book. After enlisting the help of Iguana, Turtle, and Pig, the team attempts to make a strawberry shortcake. Throughout the book the team learns important cooking terms and how to work together as a team.

Major themes of this book include the value of teamwork and the important of patience and how to be understanding to those that do not always understand concepts, even when you do.

I related to this book because I absolutely love cooking. In middle school, every weekend I would bake breads, brownies, cupcakes, and cakes. When I would bake I would oftentimes do it with my little sister who was in elementary school at the time. She was very much like the Iguana and constantly asking questions, so I was able to learn a lot about patience when I began working with her in the kitchen.

I would recommend this book to children of all ages because it defines and gives example of different cooking methods that are important for all students to know. It teaches leadership from different perspectives, whether that is how you should listen to others explain things to you or how to have patience when others are still learning. This book had really good illustrations and overall was good content for all readers.

[Tracy Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cook-A-Doodle-Doo is a spin on the old classic “The Little Red Hen. A rooster (instead of a hen) is bored with the dull food he always eats, but he remembers that is great grandmother the Little Red hen has a wonderful cookbook full of delicious recipes. He then asks his friends Cat, Dog, and Goose to help him make a delightful Strawberry Shortcake. They all say no! Just as the rooster was about to give up on his plan 3 other friends decide to help. A potbelly pig, an iguana, and a turtle decide to give him a hand. This is no easy tasks for the friends because no one has ever cooked before. They all must work together as a team if they want to enjoy the treat at the end.
Cook-A-Doodle-Doo is a fun book to use inside and outside the classroom. It is also interactive, a recipe for the Strawberry Shortcake is tucked in the back for students or for anyone to use. I love this book and plan on making the strawberry shortcake!
This book is a fun and easy way to teach the classroom about hard work and teamwork. That doing something together can be rewarding to everyone. An example of that would be to keep the classroom clean, and that keeping a safe, and healthy environment will help the teacher, themselves and their friends.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the cutest little book, ever! I love chickens, and this book is about a rooster, a turtle, a pig, and an iguana who pitch in as a team and cook a meal together. Rooster is tired of eating chicken feed every day, and wants to eat something different. He gets hungry and decides to look at his great-grandmother's cookbook. The cookbook was "The Joy of Cooking Alone by L.R. Hen" (Little Red Hen from the old school Golden Books). They make a beautiful shortcake, but it gets dropped. So they make another one, except this time, they work together even better as a team.

I loved this little book! The illustrations were amazing, and the story was cute and fun.

This would be a great book to use in math for 1st - 3rd grades, introducing fractions or practicing the concepts. There is a lot of measuring in this book, which lends itself nicely to this purpose.

[Tabitha Broek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a rooster that get tired of eating chicken feed off the ground. He decided to take matters into his own hands. He found his great grandmothers’ cookbook. He then decided to make a strawberry short cake. He got help from a pig, turtle, and iguana. They proceeded to make the cake with many misconceptions, the roster helping them fix their mistakes as they continued to make the cake. They worked together to make a beautiful cake that tasted even better. This is a great book that shows teamwork and how when you work together you can accomplish anything. I think this would be a fun book to read to an elementary class. It does have a lot to do with measuring so you could bring up different measurements when reading the book. Its also just a funny quirky book that kids would love.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Candice's review is spot on and important.

The pictures are fine. The Little Red Hen premise is a hoot. The complications in the kitchen exhausted me. I would not use this book & recipe for the first shared kitchen activity with my child as it's just too much, and probably too fussy (I do like the idea of the first one being for practice, though). Instead I'd try something from Devlin's Cranberryport series.

[Jaden]

Picture Book

The big brown rooster was sick of always eating chicken feed. He decided to get his friends Turtle, Iguana, and Pig to help him even though they have never cooked before. They made the perfect strawberry shortcake until Iguana dropped it on the floor and pig ate it all. They said it was just practice then went on and made more perfect strawberry short cakes to share!

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rooster is dreaming of the strawberry short cakes that his great-grandmother, the Little Red Hen, use to make. He enlists the help of Iguana, Pig and Turtle to help him.

Why I started this book: Recommended by sister Laura, I bought a copy for my library.

Why I finished it: Fun, and basic introduction to cooking. Iguana felt a lot like Amelia Bedelia and her very literal interpretations.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tired of eating seed, Big Brown Rooster, finds his Great-Grandmother's, Little Red Hen, cookbook, and enlists the help of his three not so bright, but willing friends, Turtle, Iguana, and Potbellied Pig to help bake a strawberry short. Fun filled read, offering step-by-step instructions to make and bake the cake.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was an extremely cute books. I loved how all the animals were not understanding the rooster when he would say things like measure the flour, and they tried to use a ruler. I also thought it was very cute how in the back of the book there was the recipe for the strawberry shortcake.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the questionable help of his friends Turtle, Iguana and Pig, Rooster manages to bake a strawberry shortcake, which would have pleased his great-grandmother, Little Red Hen.

Includes a recipe in the back.

[Sue Slade · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son & I read this tonight. A fun, educational read. Once we were done- we dug out his Great-Grandmother's sifter and sifted the amount of flour needed to make the recipe in the back of the book and proceeded to make the Strawberry Shortcake recipe for snack. A fun night to remember.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

The world's most annoying and idiotic farm animals bicker their way through making a strawberry shortcake. Nicely illustrated. The cooking hints in the footnotes along the side just cluttered up the pages though--perhaps they would have been better condensed to a page at the end.

[Debi Cates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some funny animal characters get together to make a strawberry short cake, a recipe passed down from rooster's great grandmother, Little Red Hen. Because, you know, many chickens like to bake cakes.

Real recipe and real explanations, and chaos included.

[Alexia Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

rooster, strawberry shortcake, cook-a-doodle-doo, cooked, sifted, measure, heat

[Lisa Arrigo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most adorable book! I enjoyed it so much. I am creating a cooking class around it! We will read the story and then bake our own shortcake!

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Play off of Little Red Hen. Great text for kids to make comparisons to LRH

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful story about teamwork - with hilarity - in the kitchen. Sidebars, fabulous illustrations, recipe in the back.

[Karen Roettger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read & retelling of Little Red Hen classic story. Love the art work of Janet Stevens.

[Aaron Ashton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book with great characters. They explore the wrong way to cook so they can do it the right way.

[Kelly Miller]

This teaches students the importance of teamwork and how accidents happen. This book shows a great reaction to an accident that happened (dropping the shortcake)