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Tales from Acorn Wood
Cat’s Cookbook
Lift the flaps and join in the fun with Cat's Cookbook , a new story in the bestselling Tales from Acorn Wood preschool series by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, creators of The Gruffalo .
Cat wants to learn to cook. Will she find a book to help her in Acorn Library? Lift the flaps to find out, and then join Cat and all her friends for a special surprise!
With sturdy flaps on every spread and rhyming stories that are a joy to read aloud, Cat's Cookbook joins the first four stories in the bestselling Tales from Acorn Wood series, Fox's Socks, Postman Bear, Rabbit's Nap and Hide-and-Seek Pig, which have been delighting parents and children for over twenty years.
Cat wants to learn to cook. Will she find a book to help her in Acorn Library? Lift the flaps to find out, and then join Cat and all her friends for a special surprise!
With sturdy flaps on every spread and rhyming stories that are a joy to read aloud, Cat's Cookbook joins the first four stories in the bestselling Tales from Acorn Wood series, Fox's Socks, Postman Bear, Rabbit's Nap and Hide-and-Seek Pig, which have been delighting parents and children for over twenty years.
12 pages, Board book
Published April 29, 2021
3 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Julia Donaldson
1,228 books1,881 followersGrowing up
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).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and 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.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I 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.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
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.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
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).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and 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.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I 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.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
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.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 31, 2023
It's a childrens book about a library book!
April 1, 2023
kitapçıda ayaküstü okuduğum çocuk kitapları🫶🏻🌟📖🤎🫂🗝️☕️🌷💓🫧🤍🥹🌛
May 31, 2021
My son loves the latest in the fantastic Acorn Wood Series. In this book Cat wants to bake a cake so visits Acorn library to find the perfect cookbook. She discovers lots of other interesting books on her search to find the perfect book.
We have already read this hundreds of times! The little flaps are great and my son loves visiting the library (although usually to find 'car car' books) so this is a very relatable story. The Cat is 'so cute' (my son's words)
As always with these stories, the rhyme and the illustrations are amazing. Another brilliant addition to one of our favourite series! I hope there will be more.
We have already read this hundreds of times! The little flaps are great and my son loves visiting the library (although usually to find 'car car' books) so this is a very relatable story. The Cat is 'so cute' (my son's words)
As always with these stories, the rhyme and the illustrations are amazing. Another brilliant addition to one of our favourite series! I hope there will be more.
July 5, 2022
I don't think I can praise this little series enough for how much they've engaged my 1 year old son. He brings each one of them over and over again and will sit for ages listening to these and lifting the flaps. It's reached a point where he knows some of the words and says them ahead of the page turn even. They've been a fantastic jumping off point to get him into books.
Cat's Cookbook, Rabbit's Nap and Fox's Socks are his current favourites of the lot, though he happily sits reading all the rest too.
Cat's Cookbook, Rabbit's Nap and Fox's Socks are his current favourites of the lot, though he happily sits reading all the rest too.
July 23, 2021
A nice concept with the book flaps, but for Noah the story was a bit repetitive, as were the flaps (all books).
December 25, 2021
A new addition to the lift-the-flap tales from from acorn wood. This one focuses on cat's quest to find a cookbook in her local library and learn to cook a meal for her friends
May 24, 2022
I love all of the weird books she goes through to get to the right one
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June 10, 2023First book i read in russian🥳
September 27, 2023
Simple, moral story about the dangers of aspiring to be a pastry chef. At some stages it seemed overwrought but the simple elegance of the writing cancelled that out.
January 16, 2024
Sensible Cat goes to the library!
September 23, 2024
Книга подходяща за най-малките, с мънички прозорчета и интересна история.
July 24, 2025
Kids read aloud - lovely book for rhythm and practising reading aloud
November 8, 2025
adorable little pop up book
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews