Cooking With Henry and Elliebelly

Cooking With Henry and Elliebelly
By Carolyn Parkhurst
Illustrated by Dan Yaccarino
Feiwel and Friends, 2010. Unpaged. Picture Book.

Henry is the star of his own imaginary cooking show, along with his 2 year old sister Eleanor (Elliebelly). This episode features raspberry-marshmallow-peanut butter waffles with barbecued banana bacon. Yum! Their show even has a theme song and commercials. Henry is as patient of a brother as he can be, considering he has a very rambunctious toddler assistant. Ellie's interruptions are written big and bold, and in red ink. Mom even speaks up from time to time "off-camera" in speech bubbles.

This is a stellar picture book that will literally make you laugh out loud. Yaccarino's illustrations are full of life and a perfect complement to Parkhurst's characters and dialogue. If you've ever had toddlers, siblings, or been a kid yourself, this is a must check-out. I am big fan of Lauren Child's "Charlie and Lola" books, and this fits right in.

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