Book Review of Best Chef in Town
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The Children’s Book Review
Best Chef in Town
Written by Lori Rotter
Illustrated by Vaughan Duck
Ages: 4-6 | 34 Pages
Publisher: LFR Creative, LLC (2025) | ISBN: 979-8988752950
What to Expect: Cooking, leadership, teamwork, fairness, competition.
In this sweet and funny picture book, a haughty and stuck-up rabbit chef learns an important lesson about teamwork.
Chef Romi Rabbit is renowned for her fantastic cooking. So when a cooking competition comes to her attention, she can’t resist entering. However, when the big day dawns, it’s her Sous Chef Sam who does all the work, while Romi wastes time greeting her fans. With little time left and no instructions from Romi about what to cook, Sam thinks fast and sets some pasta to cook—but Romi, furious that Sam has taken the spotlight, takes over, and in the rush and panic, sugar gets added to the pasta instead of salt!
Romi gives up all hope of winning, but Sam thinks fast again and adds some cocoa. Their sweet pasta concoction is a winner with the judges—and Romi, having learned her lesson, passes the prize on to Sam. From now on, Sam and Romi are partners—because it is through teamwork that truly great creativity happens!
For any reader who has laughed at the over-the-top seriousness of any of the many hundreds of television cooking competitions out there, this tongue-in-cheek pastiche is sure to raise a smile. Sam is hard-working and conscientious, and readers will love seeing Romi learn her lesson and come to appreciate him as he deserves. The chaotic artwork beautifully captures the frenetic energy of a busy kitchen. At the same time, the rhyming text helps developing readers build literacy skills while reading aloud. At the end of the story, an included recipe allows readers to try out Romi’s famous sweet pasta dish for themselves.
With its emphasis on teamwork and fairness, this is a story readers are sure to learn from—whether about cooking or about life!
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About the Author
Lori Rotter is an award-winning toy designer and author of Best Dinosaur Ever and Freckles’ Best Ribbit. Her large extended family keeps her laughing and inspires her story and toy ideas. Like in her toys, Lori enjoys sparking the imagination and adding small details for kids to discover. She is a cooking enthusiast and avid baker and prefers (if she could) to eat dessert before any meal. Lori lives in New York with her husband, Steve, lots of fish, and two silly dogs.
For more information, visit lfrcreative.com.
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