Rutabaga loves food so much that he has set out on an adventure to find the rarest, most exotic ingredients to add to his cookbook. When he is plucking mushrooms from a sword, he is interrupted by a troupe of adventurers who are on their way to defeat a dragon, and Rutabaga, eager to try his very first dragon steak, begs to come along. He is clumsy and a bit of a goof, but his food is delicious, so they invite him to join their team. In small panels with blocky figures shaded by benday dots, Colossal playfully tells the story, originally a web comic, of Rutabaga's madcap adventures, which include a creature who eats only dream food, a cook-off with a crotchety old chef, and some fierce, grizzled warriors. And at every turn, following an enthusiastic "Let's get cooking!" Rutabaga whips up something tasty. A couple of recipes end the volume, but even Rutabaga's culinary feats in the comic re-bones instructions are included in the panels uld easily inspire young adventure chefs to make some gourmet grub of their own.

Chef Rutabaga's portable kitchen; his anthropomorphic sidekick, Pot; and his love of foraging for unique ingredients (e.g., "sweetened blood berries" and "pop-shrooms") may encourage readers to be more adventurous with their own culinary pursuits. The quirky series-starting graphic novel includes easy-to-make recipes and uses comic vignettes to concisely introduce such entertaining characters as sword-slinging Winn and her comrades, Manny and Beef.

Gr 2-4 Rutabaga is on the prowl for adventure, but not the kind that most knights and warriors yearn for. As an adventure chef, Rutabaga, along with his magical walking kettle, Pot, explores magical lands and looks for rare ingredients and exotic monsters to cook in order to make the most amazing meals possible. He first follows a group of knights on the hunt for a giant and possibly tasty dragon and soon ends up cooking for everyone, from kings and royal pets to barbarians and ghosts. Things hardly ever go as planned, however, and Rutabaga often has to concoct an exquisite dish to solve his problems and help his friends. As the story continues, Rutabaga doesn't really transition between adventures and more or less just wanders off until he happens on his next quest, making this selection feel more like a collection of short comics than an actual book. Still, author Colossal perfectly mixes action and humor, similar in style to "Adventure Time" comics writer Ryan North, only with simple enough language to please the chapter book-reading crowd. And his simple, manga-influenced illustrations will be just as easily accessible. A promising first course in a series that could really take off. Peter Blenski, Greenfield Public Library, WI