Life In The Unknown: Cook-a-Doodle-Doo

I have had the sad realization that I have not being cooking with "A" has much as I should or would like too. Cooking helps children feel like they are contributing to the family and builds self-confidence. It also provides family bonding time and can teach life long skills. Cooking with families at home is also believed to reduce obesity and drug use in children. I recently came across a cute picture book by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel called Cook-a-Doodle-Doo that would redeem my lack of family cooking. I am a fan of other books by the two like The Great Fuzz Frenzy and Help Me Mr. Mutt so I knew it wouldn't disappoint. The book was a about the Little Red Hen's grandson who is sick of chicken-feed and finds his grandma's cookbook. With three friends he attempts to make strawberry shortcake from scratch. The book is very funny and would be great text-to-text connection if you read the Little Red Hen first. The book is a step-by-step to making the dessert with humor and cute illustrations throughout. On the sidelines of the pages is facts and cooking tips. So not only did we have a fun read aloud, quality time around cooking, a little math lessons of measuring and counting, but a delicious way to end our evening. The shortcake is just how I imagined a grandma making it too. The cake is not sweet but salty and has that down home feel to it. A great accompaniment to whipping cream and sweet strawberries!