Ratatouille Spinoff: Too Many Cooks by Margaret McNamara

In one of the spin-off print titles related to the Disney-Pixar movie Ratatouille, reviewed here on July 20, Margaret McNamara reprises in catchy rhyme that part of the movie in which Remy, the rat chef, has to call in his kinsmen for kitchen help.

With the grim-faced restaurant reviewer due to rate Gusteau's Restaurant, the entire staff quits when they discover that chief chef Linguini is actually directed by a rat beneath his toque. Young rat Remy, the real chef, in desperation appeals to his rat clan to take over the prep work for his critic-pleasing meal. In telling this tasteful tale, McNamara's verse is light and bouncy, as in this couplet describing how the rats get sanitized for duty:

Get them clean from head to toe,
Into the dishwasher they must go.

and as they turn to the food prep under Remy's tutelage:

Peel the carrots, one through ten,
Long and skinny--julienne.

Trickle oil, oh, so slowly,
Never curdle the aioli!

Blanch the chestnuts for ragout,
Poach a scallop! Make a roux!

Whip the cream in copper bowls.
Pile puff pastry for profiteroles.

Illustrator Nate Wragg keeps the rat characters fluid and animated and the story moving along to the happy ending in which Remy proves that you can't have too many rats when your restaurant is being rated!

If you know a kid who loved Ratatouille and isn't averse to the vocabulary of French cuisine, Margaret McNamara's Too Many Cooks is the chef's choice!