The Donut Chef

Who would ever think that a picture book about unbridled capitalism, rampant consumerism, and aggressive marketing could be a hit? But it is!

In The Donut Chef, a baker is surprised and threatened by a competitor who opens up shop on the same street.

"Indeed, with two shops on the block,
Both selling donuts round the clock,
Well, people asked - you might have guessed -
'Whose donuts are the very best?''

The fierce competition for customers leads to drastically reduced costs and an explosion of new flavors,

"If one chef dropped his donut cost,
The next would add more chocolate frost!
If one would scram, 'Buy two, get three!'
The other yelled, 'But mine are FREE!'

They made new flavors, quite bizarre,
Like Cherry-Frosted Lemon Bar,
And Peanut-Brickle show more Buttermilk,
And Gooey Cocoa-Mocha Silk!"

In the end, it takes "little Debbie Sue, a teeny girl, just barely two," to bring the baker and his customers back to their senses!

This book has potential to be used in more ways than one. It's a fun choice for storytime, it's a humorous introduction to the free enterprise system, it's an inspiration to young artists, and it's a testament to the artistic possibilities of a program as simple and readily-available as Adobe PhotoShop. show less

Reviewed by Julie M. Prince for Kids @ TeensReadToo.com

Follow the story of the donut chef, as he selects the perfect corner to create his store and builds up his clientele -- until that dastardly competition moves in next door and chaos ensues.

I usually avoid picture books in rhyme, as it's rare to find one that's done well. I can honestly say that this one works.

The text is strong and fun and the story itself engaging. The illustrations, with their geometric shapes, monochromatic colors, and varying textures, are sure to keep the attention of kids.

A perfect bedtime story with lots of re-reading potential!

Two donut shops find themselves competing for business. They create crazy and complex donuts, offer discounts, and even free donuts to attract customers. However, when a little girl comes in a requests a simple, glazed donut, the chef is surprised, but he finds himself making the always faithful classic, and realizes, most people "love glazed the best." The colorful photos, with their abstract shapes, will keep children truly interested in the outcome of this business competition.

A cute story about two rival donut chefs who try to outdo each other with crazy manifestations of donuts, until a little girl requests a simple glazed donut & causes both of the chefs to realize what they've forgotten about their passion.

The Donut Chef is about a donut chef who opens up a donut shop in town. Once the business becomes successful, another donut shop opens up next door and the owners compete against each other to prove they each have the best donuts. They get wrapped up in their competition creating crazy kinds of donuts people do not even like. A little girl comes into the store and asks for a plain glaze, which the chef does not have, and he realizes how ridiculous he is being. The book do not have any particular take home message for its readers, but it is still a cute book. The illustrations are whimsical and fun to look at. The books rhymes, which also makes it fun to read.

A donut chef who opens a donut shop named, Donut Land, but then is caught up in severe competition when another donut shop opened right next door to his. He loses sight of his true passion, which is making donuts when he is in a competition feud with his chef neighbor. The chefs begin making all sorts of crazy shaped donuts with odd flavors, which customers were not satisfied with. When a little girl walked into Donut Land asking for a glazed donut, the donut chef came back to his senses and turned his shop back into a simple donut shop.

The Donut Chef by Bob Staake tells a story about two conpetitors trying to attract customers. The internal message in the story is that sometimes simple is better. The more that we try and complicate things the more problems that we have.