"'Always chicken feed! Day after day--year after year--I'm sick of it!' squawked Big Brown Rooster."

In this deliciously imaginative book by sisters Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel, a hungry and fed-up rooster suddenly recalls his famous Great-Granny, a fabulous chef who penned a book of recipes for future generations. He hunts down her cookbook--The Joy of Cooking Alone by L.R. Hen.

Rooster carefully turned the pages. "So many recipes--and I thought she just baked bread! Look at the strawberry shortcake!... Yes sirree--just like Great-Granny, I'll be a cook! COOK-A-DOODLE-DO-O-O!"

Upon settling down with this remarkable tale, every child's natural curiosity for cooking will likewise come bursting forth. There is a great basic story here, with plenty of creative spins on The Little Red Hen. In this version, Rooster--rebuffed by Dog, Cat, and Goose just like his Granny was--finds companionship in the kitchen with Turtle, Iguana, and Potbellied Pig. As Turtle reads the recipe aloud, Iguana continuously confuses the instructions to great comedic effect, Amelia Bedelia-style. (He tries to cut butter with scissors and beat an egg with a baseball bat.) Pig, on the other hoof, asks over and over for a chance to taste the batter. ("Looks mighty dry in there," said Pig. "Perhaps I should taste it.") Stevens's sure, friendly illustrations evoke a tremendous amount of character and activity in lightning-fast time. Take, for example, the cooking hats all the creatures don when they get to the kitchen: Turtle sports a copper-bottomed soup pot on his head, Iguana wields a candy-striped oven mitt, and Pig is wearing a kitchen towel, tied kerchief-style. They're ready!

Scattered through the story are sidebars with cooking tips that offer information on the ingredients, measurements, and techniques mentioned in the text. (Even if kids don't want to read them, they're quite handy for adults answering questions while reading.) Kids will love this lively, slapstick story of teamwork in action, and no doubt will want to try making strawberry shortcake! Fortunately, the recipe for "Great-Granny's Magnificent Strawberry Shortcake" is in the back. (Ages 4 and older) --Jean Lenihan


From Publishers Weekly
Stevens (Tops and Bottoms) and her sister cook up a boisterous romp as four animal friends set out to bake a strawberry shortcake. Rooster, tired of pecking for chicken feed, remembers that his famous great-grandmother (the Little Red Hen) wrote a cookbook, and in it he finds the recipe. Turtle, Iguana and Pig volunteer to help. If left solely to the text, the rest of the comedy-cum-cookery lesson would be fairly predictable: Turtle, reading the recipe, announces they need flour and Iguana rushes outside to pick a petunia; asked to beat an egg, Iguana hoists a baseball bat. (Handsomely illustrated sidebars explain most of the directions in depth.) Rooster sets Iguana straight while Pig keeps wanting to taste everything in sight. The illustrations, however, are startling in their pop-off-the-page dimensionality. In her characteristic style, Stevens mixes media, seamlessly combining paints, photos and computer art to witty effect; readers will want to look very closely to determine what's from real life and what's from a palette. Wearing their silly chef's hats (an inverted saucepan, an oven mitt, a kitchen towel and an apron), the four animals create a whirlwind of activity on every spread. Presiding adults should note that the strawberry shortcake recipe at the end is not as foolproof as the story would imply, even with the information in the sidebars; kids, enthused by the kitchen frolics depicted here, will surely want to attempt it. Ages 4-8. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-Humor is the chief ingredient in this entertaining tale. Big Brown Rooster is hungry for new flavors and seeks out his great-grandmother's cookbook (the Little Red Hen's appropriately titled The Joy of Cooking Alone). In this case, however, Rooster does manage to find some animals that agree to help him. The confused efforts of inept Iguana, greedy Pig, and patient Turtle are amusing, as are Stevenson's slightly skewed representations of familiar objects (Land o' Pond's butter, a T-REX measuring cup). Against all odds, the end result looks delicious, but clumsy Iguana drops the strawberry shortcake on the floor and Pig quickly gobbles it up. Luckily, Rooster is patient, quite determined, and, it turns out, generous. When the four friends create another beautiful cake, even the animals that chose not to participate are invited to enjoy the feast. The basic premise of the story gives it the feel of a fractured fairy tale, and the mix of friendship, fun, and food will satisfy the appetites of most readers. Whether they will take the time to read the sidebars that explain baking terms and techniques-or try the featured recipe-is less clear. Luckily, it's easy enough to skip over the sidebars; and, in fact, doing so makes the story flow more smoothly. The mixed-media illustrations are drawn on paper made from such ingredients as flour, flowers, eggshells, and even baking powder, giving the book added flavor.Lisa Dennis, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PACopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Part careful recipe, part wild farce, this gloriously illustrated picture book brings the farmyard into the kitchen with parody and puns and nonsense slapstick that kids will love. Big Brown Rooster is sick of chicken feed. Inspired by his famous great-grandmother, Little Red Hen, he finds her recipe for strawberry shortcake. At first, no one will help ("Not I," said Dog); but then Turtle, Iguana, and Potbellied Pig are only too eager to join Rooster in the kitchen. Turtle can read; Iguana (with a striped oven mitt on his head) can get stuff; Pig is dying to taste; they are a team. The first ingredient is flour (Iguana dashes outside and picks a petunia). When the recipe says "sift," Iguana dives into the flour. Measure the flour: Iguana grabs a ruler. Beat the egg: he picks up a baseball bat. Each time, Rooster restores order ("No, no, no"), then does it right. With the main story and each hilarious, mouthwatering double-page picture of pandemonium, there is a quiet sidebar in small type that explains what recipes are, what ingredients are, what measuring and baking means, and how to make a strawberry shortcake, step by step. The luscious illustrations on hand-made paper are beautifully drawn and deliciously textured, in brilliant shades of red strawberry, brown cake, and creamy filling. The full recipe is printed on the last page, and kids will want to join the team, get in the messy kitchen, follow the directions, and eat that cake. Hazel Rochman


From Kirkus Reviews
A cross between a picture book take-off of the story of the Little Red Hen and a cooking lesson on the making of strawberry shortcake. When Big Brown Rooster, great-grandson of the Little Red Hen, discovers a recipe for strawberry shortcake in her book, The Joy of Cooking Alone, he makes up his mind to be a cook. In a nod to the original tale, Dog, Cat, and Goose won't help, but Turtle, Iguana, and Pig volunteer. Panels running down the outer margins of some pages offer further information on cooking; in the meantime, the antics surrounding the baking of the cake overtake the studied connections to Little Red Hen. Though entertaining, the story is not seamless in its many functions; it ends on a flat note with a splat of the shortcake on the floor and a pep talk about teamwork. The real humor is in the hilarious illustrations, where a sketchier-than-usual style gives the book a more hurried appearance. Stevens never misses an opportunity for expressiveness in her characters; her inclusion of funny details adds more silliness to the story, from the overturned copper-pot hat on Turtle to the T-rex measuring cup. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
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 problem: 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!



Card catalog description
With the questionable help of his friends, Big Brown Rooster manages to bake a strawberry shortcake which would have pleased his great-grandmother, Little Red Hen.

ANNOTATION

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

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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 problem: 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!

FROM THE CRITICS

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

What appears to be a simple variant on the story of the Little Red Hen is a very sophisticated and humorous take off filled with verbal and visual humor. If that isn't enough, there is a cooking lesson and plenty of measurement facts and figures in the sidebars of each spread. Big Brown Rooster is sick of chicken feed and his laments "What's a hungry rooster to do?" Remembering stories from his mama, he hunts until he finds her copy of The Joy of Cooking Alone by L. R. Hen. Discovering a recipe for strawberry shortcake, he decides that is it and heads for the farm house kitchen. On the way the Dog, Cat and Goose all declare they will not help, so with a sigh he puts on an apron (it looks like a bonnet) ready to cook alone but suddenly Turtle, Iguana and Potbellied Pig offer to help. What a trio. Iguana takes the instructions literally and pulls up a petunia when asked to fetch the flour uses a ruler to measure and so on. Potbellied Pig wants to taste at every stage and is continually told to wait. Each scene is filled with this quartet creating this magnificent pastry. There is a humorous twist at the end of the tale and on the very last page a copy of the recipe and B. B. Rooster's very own cookbook entitled The Joy of Cooking Together. A book that will have readers cackling with delight.

School Library Journal

Humor is the chief ingredient in this entertaining tale. Big Brown Rooster is hungry for new flavors and seeks out his great-grandmother's cookbook (the Little Red Hen's appropriately titled The Joy of Cooking Alone). In this case, however, Rooster does manage to find some animals that agree to help him. The confused efforts of inept Iguana, greedy Pig, and patient Turtle are amusing, as are Stevenson's slightly skewed representations of familiar objects (Land o' Pond's butter, a T-REX measuring cup). Against all odds, the end result looks delicious, but clumsy Iguana drops the strawberry shortcake on the floor and Pig quickly gobbles it up. Luckily, Rooster is patient, quite determined, and, it turns out, generous. When the four friends create another beautiful cake, even the animals that chose not to participate are invited to enjoy the feast. The basic premise of the story gives it the feel of a fractured fairy tale, and the mix of friendship, fun, and food will satisfy the appetites of most readers. Whether they will take the time to read the sidebars that explain baking terms and techniques-or try the featured recipe-is less clear. Luckily, it's easy enough to skip over the sidebars; and, in fact, doing so makes the story flow more smoothly. The mixed-media illustrations are drawn on paper made from such ingredients as flour, flowers, eggshells, and even baking powder, giving the book added flavor.-Lisa Dennis, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA

Kirkus Reviews

A cross between a picture book take-off of the story of the Little Red Hen and a cooking lesson on the making of strawberry shortcake. When Big Brown Rooster, great-grandson of the Little Red Hen, discovers a recipe for strawberry shortcake in her book, The Joy of Cooking Alone, he makes up his mind to be a cook. In a nod to the original tale, Dog, Cat, and Goose won't help, but Turtle, Iguana, and Pig volunteer. Panels running down the outer margins of some pages offer further information on cooking; in the meantime, the antics surrounding the baking of the cake overtake the studied connections to Little Red Hen. Though entertaining, the story is not seamless in its many functions; it ends on a flat note with a splat of the shortcake on the floor and a pep talk about teamwork. The real humor is in the hilarious illustrations, where a sketchier-than-usual style gives the book a more hurried appearance. Stevens never misses an opportunity for expressiveness in her characters; her inclusion of funny details adds more silliness to the story, from the overturned copper-pot hat on Turtle to the T-rex measuring cup. (Picture book. 4-8)