View source for Cockadoodle-Doo, Mr Sultana! by Michael Morpurgo

{{infobox1
|title=Cockadoodle-Doo, Mr Sultana!
|author=Michael Morpurgo
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=A glorious, whacky tale as Little Red Rooster takes on the bullying sultan.  A great book for the emerging reader.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=96
|publisher=Harper Collins Children's Books
|date=January 2013
|isbn=978-0007489985
|cover=0007489986
|aznuk=0007489986
|aznus=0007489986
}}

There was once a very rich and very greedy and very fat sultan who kept his people in poverty and everything else for himself.  One day when he was out riding (and being very mean to his horse) he lost a diamond button.  His people were made to search for it on their hands and knees, but it was found by a little red rooster, who was very cheeky and who forced the sultan into a merry chase and finally a humiliating defeat.  It's the stuff of traditional fairy tales given some delightful twists by a master storyteller and hilariously illustrated by Shoo Rayner.

Think of Little Red Rooster as a guerilla fighting against the oppression of an unjust ruler and you have it about right.  He's fearless and he doesn't care what risks he takes.  He's inventive - making the most of the problems he encounters and the end justifies the means, always.  That all sounds terribly serious, but it's not: it's a glorious, laugh-a-minute adventure in which the bully gets his very public and humiliating comeuppance.  It's neatly pitched at the emerging reader with no page having a daunting amount of text and lots of wonderful, giggle-making, black-and-white illustrations to give clues as to what's happening and to ensure that there's never too much text before the page has turned.

The number of illustrations tempted me to think that this would be a good book for the reluctant reader, but there's a playfulness with words (''obsquatulate'' anyone?) which might be off-putting.  It's best used as a book which is initially shared between adult and child, but after that I think it will become a firm favourite.  The writing is (as usual) excellent and the story is a good one with plenty of tension.  It's going to be enjoyed by both boys and girls.  I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

If this book appeal then we think you might also enjoy [[Fluff the Farting Fish by Michael Rosen and Tony Ross]].

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[[Category:Emerging Readers]]