Charlie Cook's Favorite Book

by Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler (Illustrator)

Charlie Cook has a favorite book. It’s about a pirate, who also has a favorite book . . . about Goldilocks, who also has a favorite book . . . about a knight, who also has a favorite book . . . . This hilarious pattern continues throughout the story, right to the satisfying and surprising end.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Books About Books, Animals, Poetry, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Growing 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.

Reviews

[Spencer Orey · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kid was super excited about the title. "What IS his favorite book???"

And then the book was ok. If you've read anything else by these authors, it'll feel like more of the same. The generic and slightly forced sing-songy rhymes will be familiar. The ehh it's not that bad art style, with reused character models from other books, is also present. There's more weirdly light treatment of someone being imprisoned (why does this keep happening in their books???).

Overall, some whimsy, mostly generic.

[Sophia Triad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book inside a book inside another book inside another book inside another book etc.
Until everything comes a full circle.
Charlie Cook is a very lucky bookworm.
....And Charlie Cook's favourite book needs to be read aloud if you need to have the perfect rhyming in full effect.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mixture of stories linked by the characters who loves reading them.

[Gerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlie Cook would often curl up in a chair with his favourite book of the day, the first of which was entitled 'Shiver Me Timbers: The Story of an Old Sea Dog'. And in that book the old sea dog found a treasure chest, inside which was … yes, you've probably got it, a book!

A girl called Goldilocks was then reading 'Fairy Tales from a Forgotten Island', with three bears, loitering in the background. The bears went into her bedroom and discovered her reading junior bear's favourite book; junior was non too pleased.

'The Bearo Annual' featured Sir Percy Pilkington and a dragon, who laughed at Sir Percy reading a joke aloud. 'Just Joking!' was a book about Rowena Reddalot (great name - must be on goodreads!), a well-read frog, who leapt into the library to discover a little girl reading. Rowena jumped onto the book screaming, 'Reddit! Reddit! Reddit!'.

'Incredible Stories of Real Birds' features birds in a tree who were vying to built the best nest; the competition was won by an owl whose nest was lined with pages from his favourite book.

And there are a variety of other books being read, all with amusing results, before we reach the final one, 'Out of This World - A Collection of Ghost Stories' about a ghost who glides round a castle every night with her head being carried under her arm. But eventually she finds a shady nook and she puts her head back on to read her favourite book!

What was the ghost's book about? It was about a cosy armchair and boy called Charlie Cook … and he's still reading!

On a design feature, the book has great endpapers which feature Scheffler's design of bookends encompassing a selection of books featured in the story'

15 August 2022

I woke up in the night at 2.30am and could not get back to sleep and I spotted this book lying on the side so I thought it would be ideal to read and put me back into sleep mode! I do enjoy the story because it is written around books and the way Julia Donaldson weaves the story around the different titles is excellent and, of course, Axel Scheffler's brilliant drawings bring it all to life, particularly the greedy crocodile!

Great fun all round ... and back to sleep I went!

[Trelawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book about books. Charlie is reading about a pirate who is reading about Goldilocks who in turn is reading her favourite book and on it goes :-)

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good kids book all about how wonderful book are. Who doesn't want that message passed to a child especially in the wonderful rhyming of Julia Donaldson.
Highly recommended .

[Megan B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given this book 4, maybe even 5 stars except for the page with the ghost-girl who carried her own head in her arms. I thought that was pretty unnecessary.

[Amrit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Instantly recognisable from the front cover this is one of Julia Donaldson’s exciting rhythmic stories. This book takes the reader on a magical journey exploring different stories and settings. The story begins with Charlie Cook, a little boy who begins to read his favourite book about Pirates. This sets the scene of the many encounters with; princesses, ghosts, dragons, fairy tale characters and their favourite books on each page. Most of the characters are borrowed from other well know Julia Donaldson books. The story itself bares a similar repetitive flow to ‘A dark, dark tale by Ruth Brown’ but a much lighter version especially for 3-7 year olds. It has the same level of suspense throughout and offers children an opportunity to use their imagination to predict what may happen next and even to prompt discussions. For reception and Year one children it is great to read aloud and to role play.
Furthermore, the beautiful and creative illustrations add to the fun. This is a great introductory text to use as an example of a story with key stage one children. The rhyming throughout is a trademark of Donaldson’s stories, subtly introducing poetic language and new vocabulary. Each illustration reflects the type of text allowing children to see the difference between a comic, a magazine or a traditional fairy tale. This is useful as part of the national curriculum, key stage one children identify the features of different types of texts and produce their own in English.
Unfortunately, I feel it is not a traditional story and lacks features such as; a protagonist, a plot, a problem and a resolution. However, I enjoy the structure of other favourite and award winning Julia Donaldson titles such as; The Gruffalo and Tiddler.

[Stacey Scanlon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Julia Donaldson's book 'Charlie Cook's Favourite Book' to my reception class and they loved it! The story begins with Charlie who is reading his favourite story book - at this point the children may imagine their own favourite book and associate themselves with Charlie. From here we go on to meet a pirate who is reading his favourite book, which is about goldilocks, we then read about this story and so on. It jumps from one story to another, constantly introducing new characters. Within this book we can see many different fairy tale characters, a brave knight, a dangerous dragon, an alien and a crocodile which eats books. All of the characters keep the book exciting and you only want to turn the page to see what the next page brings. I feel that if children became familiar with this book that they would love to recite the story back. The illustrations within it would also stimulate the child’s imagination. In the end we are brought back to Charlie again where he stands with all of the characters around him. All of the stories are really appealing and I can see them keeping the children alert and eager to hear what is on the next page. The children really loved guessing what character would appear on the next page.

[[ J o ] · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is brilliant. It has a great linking storyline that is neverendingly enjoyable (until it ends, obviously). Far-fetched but a delight.

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creative and fun. My family loves this author' works.

[Dianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book within a book within a book . . . this one is so clever. My son and I really enjoyed it.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Една от новите ми любими детски книжки <3

[Theodore · Rating 5 out of 5]

No, it's MY favourite book!!!

[Andrew Bird · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming children’s book about a boy who likes to read.

[Marisa Costa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Julia Donaldson y Axel Scheffler, creadores del aclamado "Grúfalo", se reúnen de nuevo para traer a las bibliotecas de los más pequeños un cuento diferente y divertido que hace homenaje a todas las historias infantiles clásicas.

La edición cuenta con unas brillantes ilustraciones, llenas de coloridos y tonos alegres, dibujos claros y definidos que dotan de atractivo a la historia. Cabe destacar que dichas ilustraciones se encuentran repletas de elementos, algo que puede ser muy útil para trabajar con los más pequeños la percepción, atención, memoria, pensamiento y lenguaje, siendo estas habilidades no cognitivas muy necesarias para el desarrollo humano en la etapa infantil. Así mismo, ofrece numerosas oportunidades lúdicas como la búsqueda de objetos, la clasificación, el descubrimiento, la creatividad, entre otras.

El texto es sencillo y presenta diferentes fuentes y formatos que ayudan al lector a descubrir las múltiples formas de comunicación escrita; cómic, periódico, revistas, recetas, entre otros.

Los cuentos se encuentran separados no solo por el texto sino también por los formatos en que se presentan, creando una delimitación visual entre uno y otro.

Cada historia introduce un tipo de cuento diferente, viajamos desde los países más alejados de fantasía, pasando por fábulas, cuentos cómicos, de misterio o aventuras, presentando así a todos los tipos de personajes que podemos encontrar en ellos como animales que hablan, fantasmas, princesas, piratas, caballeros, dragones, etc. Esto consigue transmitir al iniciado lector en las diferentes emociones que se pueden experimentar ante los diversos géneros literarios existentes.

Los cuentos que son mencionados van desde los más conocidos como son "Ricitos de Oro" o "La princesita" hasta otros menos conocidos como "La rana Renata" o "El pirata Patapalo".

Cabe destacar que la historia es cíclica por lo que no cuenta con los tres elementos estructurales que caracterizan a los cuentos; presentación, nudo y desenlace.

En mi opinión, "El cuento sin fin de Martín" es una historia original y divertida que anima e invita a leer toda clase de cuentos, haciendo descubrir e inclinando al joven lector hacia el género que más puede llamar su atención.

Lo recomiendo muchísimo para trabajar con niños que se inician en la lectura ya que ofrece numerosas oportunidades de adentrarse en el mágico mundo de los cuentos.

https://www.anikaentrelibros.com/el-c...

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book extremely captivating to read and feel that children of a young age would find it exciting because throughout the book we are introduced to many different characters and stories. One could imagine children integrating well with the book.

The story begins with Charlie who is reading his favourite story book, at this point the children may imagine their own favourite book and associate themselves with Charlie. From here we go on to meet a pirate who is reading his favourite book, which is about goldilocks, we then read about this story and so on. It jumps from one story to another, constantly introducing new characters. Within this book we can see many different fairy tale characters, a brave knight, a dangerous dragon, an alien and a crocodile which eats books. All of the characters keep the book exciting and you only want to turn the page to see what the next page brings. I feel that if children became familiar with this book that they would love to recite the story back. The illustrations within it would also stimulate the child’s imagination. In the end we are brought back to Charlie again where he stands with all of the characters around him. All of the stories are really appealing and I can see them keeping the children alert and eager to hear what is on the next page.

[Rebecca Bannocks · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Charlie Cook settles down on his favourite chair to read his favourite book, the reader is introduced to various characters, such as; pirates, bears, knights and dragons, frogs, birds criminals and crocodiles, to name but a few! The one thing all these characters have in common is that they all love to read.

This book could be used in the classroom setting to encourage boys engagement with literacy. The main character of this book is a young boy called Charlie; this would make the book more appealing to young boys and perhaps motivate them to read. Furthermore, the characters in the story also appeals to boys imaginations. The underlying message of this book is that people from all walks of life enjoy reading, which promotes the concept of reading for enjoyment amongst children.

The book can be used throughout key stage one and two. At key stage one level it can be read to the class by the teacher during story time whilst the children enjoy the illustrations, and then read independently during key stage two once the children become more developed readers.

The rhyming text used by Donaldson gives the book a fast pace which captures and keeps hold of the reader's attention and before they know it, they have come full circle and arrived back at Charlie Cook's favourite chair.

[Donna Mcaleese]

This story begins as a young boy, Charlie Cook, sits down to read his ‘favourite book’ which is ‘about a leaky pirate ship which very nearly sank..’, the story then jumps into this story about the pirate – he is also reading a book ‘About a girl called Goldilocks and three indignant bears’ it then jumps into this story, and so it goes on. The book follows each character reading a book which is featured in a double page. Each is a mini adventure for a child as there are more stories and characters to discover with every turn of the page. Finally the story ends up back with Charlie Cook and his favourite book with each of the characters from the other tales stood reading with him.
This book exploes several genres including a comic book strip, story tale, newspaper, and poetry. There is plenty of scope for literacy lessons and writing using Charlie’s journey as a model. This book is a real treat for Y2/3 to examine, the children love the illustrations and can relate the characters to “The Gruffolo” – another of Donaldson’s exciting creations.

[Akua D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charlie cook's favourite book is a journey through lots of popular characters that children and adults love all in one book. A boy named Charlie Cook reads and talks about his favourite book about a pirate, who is reading books he found about Goldilocks and so fourth.

The pattern progresses through page after page, finally coming full circle in a clever conclusion. The children enjoyed wrapping their minds around both the art and the story as the tale sequences through book after book. I used this book as the main theme for a week of year 1 literacy. The children were using the book as inspiration for their favourite characters. As the book has a wide range of characters and settings to choose from, it really helped the children to visualise and create a story of their own based on one of the main characters in the book. Will definitely be using this book again.

[Amy Beckett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this one by Julia Donaldson! It is such a brilliant way to engage children with different texts in a visually and rhythmically pleasing way. Not only does the story function as a sequence in portraying the different characters’ favourite story book, but it also exposes children to non-fiction texts such as magazines and newspapers. I think this book could be used as a really effective example for children to create their own bookshelves; allowing them to identify their favourites texts. Whether this is a story book they have read, a favourite magazine, cook book and so on. Broadening their horizons in their love for reading, and encouraging them to increasingly encounter different experiences with reading, in and out of the classroom.

[Matthieu Wegh · Rating 4 out of 5]

? Voorleesboek meegenomen van een minibieb
🤔Zeker een aardig boek om voor te lezen als een kind voorgelezen wil worden uit een Engels boek, maar deze is het afgelopen jaar niet gekozen (op basis van de cover denk ik) en gaat deze week dus retour naar een andere minibieb...omdat ik kinderboeken graag laat zwerven.
MW14/5/24
Vandaag lees ik een laatste keer voor aan een jongen, die net 6 is geworden. Dit Engelstalige boekje heb ik zonet weer doorgelezen en neem ik mee voor het geval hij wat Engels wil horen i.p.v. Nederlands dus. Ik heb het boekje nog niet bij een minibieb afgeleverd dus ;-)
In het boekje komen sprookjes en klassieke boeken naar voren in iets andere vorm (sneeuwwitje heeft te maken met beren ipv dwergen bijvoorbeeld ;-))
MW 29/8/24

[Squiff Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlie Cook settles down to read his favourite book, about a pirate who reads a book about... Julia Donaldson's story about stories comes to a neat circular conclusion after via pre school favourites of pirates, aliens, knights and a crocodile. The rhymes are clever and often witty and the illustrations are full of clever details. Like most Donaldson/Scheffler collabourations this is a huge hit with my young son who demands we read him one of their books almost every bedtime.

[Anna Nesterovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful picture book exploiting an old trick. Each page is a different little story that the hero from the previous page reads about. Everyone in this book reads a book! So encouraging for young readers. I must admit it's not the best children's book ever, but it is a solid creation. Not all the books on a kid's shelf are the best books ever :) This one certainly deserves a place on any such self.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote about this book for my undergraduate dissertation. I studied English Language and Linguistics and I wrote about gender representations in picture books. I looked at several books by Julia Donaldson but I did an in-depth analysis of this one because of its multimodal nature (books within a book). Anyway, I really enjoyed reading this book and I think every bookworm will enjoy this.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book about the love and joys of reading. The book is in rhyming form which kids just eat up. Overly stimulating illustrations which kind of cut the book up while you explain the pictures. Not really enjoyed by the younger kids but elementary age children will enjoy this book.

[Leslie L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever book by one of our favorite authors- this one is fun to read aloud, especially when the kids catch on and join in.

[Maria Fernanda Gama · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute!

[Linnea · Rating 5 out of 5]

The rhyme and cyclicality of this book is just so darned fun. All the silly twists and turns remind me of how I felt as a child reading The Jolly Postman.

[Gray Turner-Uttley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read to the kids in my reception class :)

Probably the highlight of my week just sitting and reading a lot of picture books to them :)