Abstract
Reviewed by: Cook's Cook: The Cook Who Cooked for Captain Cook; by Gavin Bishop Elizabeth Bush Bishop, Gavin Cook's Cook: The Cook Who Cooked for Captain Cook; written and illus. by Gavin Bishop. Gecko, 2018 40p ISBN 978-1-77657-204-5 $17.99 R Gr. 3-5 In 1768 HMS Endeavour, under the command of Captain James Cook, set sail for the South Pacific to observe the transit of Venus and to covertly search for a posited southern continent. Aboard were paying guests under the direction of naturalist Joseph Banks, hoping to discover unknown (to Europeans, at least) flora and fauna. Also aboard was John Thompson, who cared little about either enterprise; his goal was to keep rations stretched and crew bellies filled, craftily deploying anti-scurvy comestibles, such as sauerkraut, which the captain extolled and the crew despised. As favored food ran short and the route was notably devoid of supermarkets, Thompson also figured out how to make meals of dog, stingray, and kangaroo. Bishop's rousing take on Thompson's culinary exploits is liberally interlaced with attention to the ship's overall mission. Ink and watercolor illustrations incorporate renderings of the action as well as vignettes, insets, and symbols that allude to concurrent views of the Endeavour's adventures. Bishop's art also pays close attention to the inhabitants of lands being so cavalierly claimed for Mother England; as the captain and competitive crew members vie for naming rights to new discoveries (poor Thompson constantly overlooked), indigenous names are attached to each landmark and native speakers use their own language. Journal entries and recipes are so convincingly presented that it's difficult to know how much is directly derived from original sources, none of which Bishop cites, unfortunately. Nonetheless, kids embarking on their first voyage with Captain Cook will most certainly enjoy the company, if not the dinner. EB Copyright © 2018 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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