Wells, Rosemary. Little Chefs, The: Three Stories. Rosemary Wells, Illus. Hippo Park, 10/2024. 80pp. Picture Book. Trade $18.99. 978-1-66264-071-1. GRADES 1–3. ADDITIONAL.
Three short stories make up this longer picture book, illustrated with Wells’s signature watercolor and ink artwork featuring animals, such as cats and rabbits, dressed in clothing. In the first story, young Sylvie tries to make dinner for her working mother but makes a mess. A crew of small chefs come in to help; they are humans, not animals, similar to the elves in the classic “The Elves and the Shoemaker” folktale. In the second, Leo is helped by the chefs to make French toast, and in the third, the chefs make a birthday cake for Oscar’s sister. The text is unusual in that the main portion is in prose, but the chefs’ portion is in rhyme, which makes it somewhat disjointed. Each story is introduced with a brief fact about chefs who saved the day for historical figures like a president or Shakespeare. This seems best suited to use with young readers moving up from beginning reader books to simple transitional fiction chapter books. Review based on an ARC.
Penny Peck—San José State University, iSchool