Do you like biscuits? Do you like cheese? Have you ever thought of using them to build different modes of transport? Aerodynamics of Biscuits (such a fantastic title!) is not a book to read when you are hungry, so many different biscuits and cheeses are included in this very amusing story.
The Story: Oliver creeps downstairs in the middle of the night to get a biscuit but the tin is empty, pirate mice are using his biscuits to make rockets. Oliver offers to help and flies to the moon with them to feast on cheese. But when they find themselves stranded they need to find a way of getting home again…
This is such an original, amusing story that we don’t want to give away the plot. Oliver is a likeable hero and is a great help to the mice, both when their first rocket fails to launch and when they are stranded on the moon. He takes great care with his rocket building and we love the pictorial details that go with his planning and the ingredients he uses, especially the choco sauce glue! Unfortunately pirate captain, Captain Sneaky McSqueaky isn’t as helpful and reliable. He lives up to the ‘Sneaky’ in his name on more than one occasion!
We love Sophia Touliatou’s fantastic illustrations which are bold, colourful and full of humour. Many of the pages are double spreads and the pictures are so full of detail that it’s impossible to choose a favourite. My daughter loves the spread where the mice are picnicking on the moon, she likes the picture of the tail crunching troll. With so many mouse characters I love the way that Sophia has managed to make them all look so different. We’ve also had fun looking for the three eyed spider who appears on many of the pages (or maybe he appears on them all and we just haven’t found him everywhere yet!).
Reading Aerodynamics of Biscuits inspired us to bake. Using one of our favourite recipes we made cheesy rocket shaped biscuits. With only three ingredients it’s a very quick and easy recipe for children to make (I’ve also used the recipe several times with children in school). Grate 80g of hard cheese together with 20g of Parmesan. Mix together with 50g plain flour and 25g butter until you have a soft dough. Roll out the dough and make shapes using a biscuit cutter then bake on a greased baking tray at 180º until golden brown (about 10 minutes). We experimented with different cutters to make rocket shapes, my favourite is the Christmas tree shaped rocket!
This is a really delicious adventure story for young readers, maybe you’ll also be inspired to make rockets out of cheese or biscuits!
Age Range: 3 +
Author: Clare Helen Welsh / Illustrator: Sophia Touliatou
Thank you to Maverick for sending us a copy of Aerodynamics of Biscuits. The title fascinated us and the story is a really fun and original read.
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