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  • Clever Cooks: A Concoction of Stories, Charms, Recipes and Riddles
  • Charity Chang (bio)
Clever Cooks: A Concoction of Stories, Charms, Recipes and Riddles. Compiled by Ellin Greene. Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, $4.95).

The retelling and/or reprinting and reassembling of old tales is a prevalent practice, but not everyone who attempts it does so successfully. In the hands of less gifted collaborators Clever Cooks could have been just another in the barrage of contemporary compilations. Fortunately this is not the case.

Clever Cooks is a delightful and diverse collection of some dozen or more stories about cooks or bakers whose culinary abilities lead them into troubles from which they are, happily, able to extricate themselves. Some of the stories are simply reprinted; others, retold. Ellin Greene as compiler has avoided the repetitive dullness that sometimes characterizes such collections. She has skillfully and tastefully balanced her selections with appropriate riddles, charms, and recipes. The opening story, for example, has to do with a woman flummoxing fairies. This story is followed by a recipe for Fairy Cake. The recipe, in turn, is followed by the charm "Come, butter, come," a recipe for butter cookies, and a suitable riddle.

The style and pace of Clever Cooks is light and lively and the supporting black and white drawings of Trina Schart Hyman are superlatively imaginative. It can be fairly stated that Clever Cooks is a satisfying example of harmony of text, illustration, and book design. The text has substance; the literary style has merit; the illustrations delight and enhance but do not intrude; and the book's design and page composition contribute to its overall aesthetic quality. Clever Cooks stands a good chance of survival.

Charity Chang

Charity Chang, head of the Serials Department, Wilbur Cross Library, Univ. of Connecticut, reviews children's books for various journals and for The Hartford Courant.

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