The Cook and the King

The redoubtable Donaldson (The Gruffalo) starts her story with a hungry king auditioning prospective cooks. He’s a sensible-looking monarch with a mustache and a paunch, and from the line of be-aproned hopefuls he selects Wobbly Bob, a self-deprecating fellow with mismatched socks. But when asked to make fish and chips and to begin by gathering the ingredients, Wobbly Bob can’t face the trial (“I’m scared! I’m scared! I’m terribly scared!”). In response, the king loads Bob into a Viking longboat and does the fishing for him: “ ‘I’ll help you fish,’ said the hungry king,/ So he fished and he fished like anything.” The gesture also establishes a pattern: the king suggests a next step, Wobbly Bob explains nervously why he can’t comply (“I’m scared of worms and I’m scared of ants./ They might crawl into my nice new pants”), and the king, showing genuine sympathy, takes over the next task. Donaldson’s thumping lines scan as confidently as ever, while expressive characters painted by Roberts (Rosie Revere, Engineer) transmit emotion with great versatility, from fear to absorption to embarrassed relief. The image of a king in glad collaboration offers a gentle vision of how to rule. Ages 3–7. [em](May) [/em]