Customer Reviews

The Big Cheese (Step into Reading, Step 2) (Ratatouille movie tie in)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a fun book to read to my kids, with a good story and some words and concepts that are challenging to my kids, such as "chef" and "Paris". On the downside, I don't think the illustrations are as realistic as I would like to see, and another downside to the illustrations is that I can't easily point out the links between the words and the illustrations.
Although the text is very well written, my understanding with kids is that they don't work well with fast-paced change, and because of that, there are too many different jumps from one movie scene to another for me to be more than 50% (3 stars) comfortable with the book as a parent.

"Remy was a rat. His job was to smell the garbage. He made sure it was safe to eat. But Remy did not like his job." -- From the book

In June 2007, Disney/Pixar will be releasing the animated movie Ratatouille (pronounced rat-a-too-ee) which pairs a chef named Linguini who can't cook--with a Rat named Remy who CAN...and quite brilliantly, it turns out.

The Big Cheese chronicles Remy's rise from the garbage dumps to the kitchen of the fine restaurant Gusteau's in Paris--all the while avoiding the head chef who obviously DOESN'T want a rat in his fine restaurant!

In the meantime, Remy tries to teach Linguini how to cook while avoiding detection. (The food critic, Ego, loves the food--but who REALLY makes the dish?! Too funny--a food critic named Ego!)

This is a Step 2 "Step Into Reading" book by Random House and is geared towards ages 5-6 and up. Step 2 books have basic vocabulary, short sentences and simple stories so they're great for beginner readers--and for bedtime stories!

My son loves this colorful book (he read it to ME before bedtime!), but if you (or your child) don't want to know some of the events in Ratatouille, you may want to wait until AFTER you see the movie to get it.

The "Step into Reading" books have been a staple in our house, especially any that involve Disney characters. "The Big Cheese" has proved time and again to be a hit with both of my sons, who at ages 2 and 4 have an easy time sitting through this fun adaption of "Ratatouille."

The story, of course, focuses on Remy's rise from grub-sniffing rat to acclaimed Parisian chef, but takes time along the way to explain how Remy feels about his family, his friends and his love of cooking. Good times for all.