Captain Cook's Christmas Pudding

While following a recipe for Christmas pudding that includes ingredients the famous explorer may have encountered in his travels, Granny relates the true stories of Captain Cook's adventures, captured in colorful paintings and a map.

Grade 1-3?This picture book falls flat. Sarah and her Granny are making Christmas pudding from an old family recipe that is named for Captain Cook, the explorer. Slowly and ploddingly, they go through the process of making the dessert. As each ingredient is named, Sarah wonders out loud where it might have come from. Then Granny gives a synopsis of an incident from one of Captain Cook's voyages. Most of her stories have nothing to do with the ingredients mentioned, except that the events she describes occurred where the sugar, lemons, or spices might have been found. The result is a discordant mix of holiday cooking and social studies. The watercolor illustrations of Captain Cook's voyages try to capture some of the flavor of his adventures but the scenes of Granny and Sarah are static. Cook's explorations and Christmas don't make a good mix, no matter how you try to blend them.
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