The Donut Chef

I picked up this fun story after discovering and loving The Red Lemon, another Bob Staake gem, and The Donut Chef is just as entertaining, if not even a bit more engaging. It’s perfect for younger children but still very enjoyable for adults to read along as well. The length is satisfying, so you feel like you get a good value out of it, the story is charming, the lesson is entertaining, and the illustrations are full of personality. Plus, it rhymes, which makes it a cut above in our home, haha. As my second Bob Staake read, it did not disappoint and has quickly become another staple in our story collection. Highly recommended!

This beautiful, humorous, fun book was an instant hit in our house. It is one of those book, that both me and my kids agree that are simply great. They cannot get enough of it, The story is vibrant and fun - A doughnut chef opens up a doughnut store, and after his success, another doughnut chef opens a store next door! The two stores compete for costumers and in their rivalry, the chefs try to rise above each other in creativity: "They made new flavors, quite bizarre like cherry frosted lemon bars and peanut brickle buttermilk and gooey cocoa mocha silk!" How does it all end? You'll have to read and find out. What sets this book apart from others, in my view, are the REMARKABLE, nothing short of brilliant, illustrations. The illustrator, Bob Stakke, has a very unique graphic style, creating many characters, all of them funny and interesting out of simple graphic shapes such as circle, triangle and rectangles. Each page is vibrating with color, with fresh and exciting composition, really - a feast for the eyes. My kids spent long hours just revisiting the drawings, every time finding out something new and funny. I simply adore this book, and I am happy to read it again for the gazillion time. Though the story itself might appeal to 3yrs old and older, the beautiful and vivid illustration of doughnuts, frosting and other delicious things will appeal to even a 2 yrs old. This will make a wonderful gift for a kid you like, especially if this kid is yours and you will be the one reading it over and over again.

I purchased this book because we have checked it out at the library many times over the last year and most recently renewed it 3 times in a row. My daughter just turned 5 and I bought it for her birthday. It is a very cute and clever book. The book is fun to read for adults and my daughter just loves the illustrations. It was the catalyst for her bakery themed birthday party and "doughnut cake" (doughnuts stacked in the form of a cake). It is actually a pleasure to read aloud because the rhyming flows and the story is good. The only reason I waited so long to buy it was because I was hoping it would come out in paperback. Paperback books are just easier (and lighter) to travel with. Overall, a great original kids story.

My child's school will only let the kids dress up as storybook characters for Halloween, and my son wanted to be a chef. So, I Googled storybook chefs and discovered this. After seeing the pics of the book on Amazon, I fell in love, and then found the kindle edition (I would have ordered the actual book, but I'm out of time). It's a super cute story that reads like Seuss. The illustrations are awesome and vibrant! Very cute for something I just happened upon.

Funny book. Great illustrations.

Wish I'd looked into this book before buying it for my class (to read as one - of many) books on chefs/bakers. There is a lot of text (too much for my little friends, so I had to edit/cut out as I was reading). The thing I did really like about it was that ALL my students knew what a donut was! They could all relate in some way! I would recommend this for a General Education Kindergarten/1st grade class. You could bring up the competition issue with slightly older students and get some really good reflective/creative writing out of it (Ex: What Flavor of Donut Would You create?)

My husband often brings our daughter to get a donut on the weekends so when I saw this book at the library I got it. It has quickly become one of our favorite books so I recently purchased it. The artwork is really fun and unique and something adults and kids can both appreciate. The story is in rhyme which I always think is fun. It's a great length and keeps both parent and child's attention (not too long, not too short). It doesn't have a big "moral of the story" (I guess it would be "simple is better" or something like that) but is still a great book! I think it makes a great gift (especially paired with a Dunkin Donut's gift card!).

If you're intro "retro" art, like that done in the 50s, you need to check this book out right now. I actually thought from the cover and its designation as a "Golden Classic", this was a reissue of a much older book. Instead it appears to be first released in 2008, and the author is someone who does New Yorker covers (sorry, don't read it). In telling a tale of a donut chef who goes overboard competing with a similarly cutthroat donut chef next door, the author uses colorful, flat geometric shapes as a basis - both for pictures of donuts and for pictures of people and everything else. And there are lots and lots of donuts, lots and lots of people, and lots and lots of everything else on each page. I don't know how kids would react to that (I buy the books for myself as an illustration buff) but I sure could spend about a half-hour looking at each page. I truly didn't think anyone was doing this style of illustration anymore and am thrilled to see I was wrong! The effect is like Dr. Seuss had a collision with a box of Colorforms. The little girl "Debbie Sue" who finally shows Mr. Donut Chef the error of his ways reminded me a lot of "Cindy Lou Who". It made me nostalgic, although the story is very modern. If only he'd made it "The Cupcake Chef" it would have been very contemporary indeed - but donuts get the point across just as well, and promote the beautiful use of circles, circles everywhere.