Cook-a-Doodle-Doo!

Title: Cook-a-Doodle-Doo!

Author: Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

Illustrator: Janet Stevens

Genre: Bluebonnet 

Awards: 2001 Bluebonnet Award

Age Group: Pre-K—1st

Cook-a-Doodle-Doo! is all about Big Brown Rooster and his team of assistants (Iguana, Turtle, and Pig) who work together to make a strawberry shortcake. Big Brown Rooster is tired of eating feed and decides to make Great-Granny's delicious strawberry shortcake recipe. At first, he has trouble finding someone to help him, but soon enough, he has a whole team of helpers. Iguana, Turtle, and Pig are not used to baking, but with Big Brown Rooster's guidance, they make the perfect strawberry shortcake. All of their hard work ends in a pile of dessert on the floor when the cake gets dropped. Pig (who had been holding back the whole time) devours the cake, and the kitchen is a mess. Big Brown Rooster decides this is the perfect opportunity to try again, and with a little teamwork, they are able to serve a brand new strawberry shortcake. Even the animals that refused to help end up getting a slice!

I would use this book in my classroom! It has a lot of good messages, such as lending a helping hand, having patience with those around you, trying again when something doesn't go the way you want it to, and treating others how you want to be treated. It also has informational bits on the sides of the pages to teach the reader about baking which is a cool element! The reader will end up learning a lot about how to follow a recipe which is something that anyone could benefit from.

I would say that this book is best for Pre-K through 1st grade. It is very repetitive, so it is great for younger students that like to follow along with something that they can repeat, such as Big Brown Rooster saying, "No, no, no" every time one of the helpers messed up. 

Because Cook-a-Doodle-Doo! follows a recipe for strawberry shortcake, I think it would be fun to either bring in some dessert for the students to eat while doing an activity on this book or to have them follow an easy no-bake recipe. Then, students could practice procedural writing by creating a list of the steps they took to make the treat or the steps Big Brown Rooster took to make the strawberry shortcake. For younger students, you could have pictures of each step that they have to cut out and put in the right order.