COOK'S COOK

With one arm and a hook, John Thompson cooked for the seamen of Lt. James Cook’s scientific expedition to the South Seas from 1768 to 1771.

New Zealand author/illustrator Bishop offers a crew’s-eye view of an early ’round-the-world voyage that sailed from Plymouth, England, across the Atlantic to South America, rounded Cape Horn, circumnavigated New Zealand, and sailed along the coasts of New Holland (Australia), Java, and West Africa before returning to England three years later. The information begins with a front-endpaper cross-section of the overcrowded HMS Endeavour and continues chronologically, as much in the blue-green–and–sepia-toned spreads as in the journallike text. Speech bubbles contain comments from the cook; on torn-parchment insets readers find printed recipes including “seared shark steaks,” “dog and breadfruit stew,” “poor knights pudding,” and the ubiquitous pease porridge. The watercolor-and–acrylic-ink images show the provisions, the sailors at work, the scientists and their servants (including at least one freed slave), scenery, wildlife, and a culminating map of the voyage. Two black servants represent the only people of color depicted aboard the Endeavour; the rest of the crew, including Thompson, present white. Only 56 of the 94 people onboard returned to England; Thompson himself dies before they reach South Africa and follows the rest of the journey as a sea gull—or so the crew believed. No sources are supplied, and libraries beware: The cover flaps obscure interesting facts.

Appealing illustrations and the lure of an insider’s account make this a delectable adventure.