Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons

by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Jane Dyer (Illustrator)

Overview

From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of I Wish You More, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, a cookie-centric guide to life.

Everyone knows cookies taste good, but these cookies also have something good to say. Open this delectable book to any page and you will find out something about life.

Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons is a new kind of dictionary, one that defines mysteries such as "fair" and "unfair" and what it means to "cooperate." At every turn this book is clever, honest, inspirational, and whimsical. Go ahead, take a bite!

Perfect for learning concept words.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060580810
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/02/2006
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	100,729
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.33(d)
Lexile:	AD610L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Amy Krouse Rosenthal wrote more than thirty picture books, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers Dear Girl, (cowritten with her daughter, Paris Rosenthal) and I Wish You More (cowritten with Tom Lichtenheld). A con­tributor to NPR, TED collaborator and speaker, filmmaker, and the author of two groundbreaking memoirs (Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life and Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal), she raised her three children with her husband, Jason, in Chicago. For more about Amy’s life, work, and the foundation formed in her memory, please see amykrouserosenthalfoundation.org.

Jane Dyer is the illustrator of the New York Times bestselling Cookies series by Amy Krouse Rosenthal as well as numerous other award-winning picture books. She lives and works in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Editorial Reviews

Clever. Delightful. Engaging. Young readers will want to jump into the pages and join the gang for milk and cookies.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Deliciously charming. Dyer’s art finely complements the simple yet profound wisdom that flows throughout Rosenthal’s inspired text. Multi-generational appeal.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Irresistible cast of characters. Beautifully rendered.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Lovely pastel watercolor illustrations. A brilliant idea. Delightful to look at.” — School Library Journal

“A delicious recipe for getting along in the world. Charmingly simple. The delicate watercolors perfectly match the tone.” — Chicago Sun-Times

From the Publisher

Clever. Delightful. Engaging. Young readers will want to jump into the pages and join the gang for milk and cookies.

Booklist (starred review)

A delicious recipe for getting along in the world. Charmingly simple. The delicate watercolors perfectly match the tone.

Chicago Sun-Times

A delicious recipe for getting along in the world. Charmingly simple. The delicate watercolors perfectly match the tone.

Chicago Sun-Times

"Clever. Delightful. Engaging. Young readers will want to jump into the pages and join the gang for milk and cookies."

Booklist

"COOPERATE means, why don't you add the chips while I stir?" "FAIR means, you get a bit, I get a bite!" Amy Krouse Rosenthal's crafty cookie-making metaphors teach nourishing life lessons about respect, trustworthiness, politeness, patience, and loyalty. A tasty approach to teaching important concepts to sweet-toothed children.

Cookies provide the vehicle for Rosenthal's (Little Pea) deliciously charming collection of defined and illustrated vocabulary words that serve as gentle guides to etiquette. Dyer's (Time for Bed) scenes of old-fashioned kitchens and balmy outdoor picnics create a feeling of nostalgia, while the cast of multi-ethnic children and their assorted animal friends provides a balancing contemporary feel. Vocabulary words appear, one or two per page, in bold capital letters; definitions follow in lower case, and each term warrants its own illustrations. "Cooperate means, How about you add the chips while I stir?," the book begins. The accompanying full-page watercolor, on the opposite page, features a curly-topped redhead stirring batter, while the bunny and dog at either side add chocolate chips (all three sport white aprons). Words such as Patient, Proud, Modest and Respect are defined in straightforward, cookie-related terms that children of all ages will comprehend. For example, "Trustworthy means, If you ask me to hold your cookie until you come back, when you come back, I will still be holding your cookie." Three vertical panels illustrate a horse entrusting his cookie to an Asian girl, putting on his coat and leaving; the next full-page painting shows the girl still stoically resisting temptation when the horse returns. Dyer's art finely complements the simple yet profound wisdom that flows throughout Rosenthal's inspired text. This story is likely to have a multi-generational appeal. All ages. (May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2-Using the activity of making and eating cookies, the author defines some important concepts for young children, such as respect, trustworthiness, patience, politeness, loyalty, etc. The book begins: "COOPERATE means, How about you add the chips while I stir?" and continues with one definition per page. For example, "FAIR means, You get a bite, I get a bite-."; "REGRET means, I really wish I didn't eat so many cookies"; and "CONTENT means sitting on the steps-just you, me, and a couple of cookies." Lovely pastel watercolor illustrations show appealing children and anthropomorphic animals interacting with one another and the treats. Although books dealing with this type of subject tend to be didactic and preachy, the utilization of the cookies to explain the concepts is a brilliant idea and works well on a child's level. The text is short and clear, and the book is delightful to look at and browse through. This is a good choice for one-on-one reading or to start an interesting class discussion.-Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

The great sage Cookie Monster intoned that, "C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me." Rosenthal and Dyer take that adage and run with it: "COOPERATE means, How about you add the chips while I stir?" and "PATIENT" means waiting nicely for them to finish baking. "RESPECT" means offering grandma the first cookie, and "REGRET" involves wishing one had not eaten so many. Don't miss the half-cookie riff on optimism and pessimism, either. There are indeed lessons, but they are neither didactic nor humorless. Dyer's irresistible cast of characters includes children of many ethnicities and a raft of animal buddies in the same world-space (the horse putting on his trench coat and asking a little Asian girl to hold his cookie until he returns-now that's "TRUSTWORTHY"). Beautifully rendered kitchens and streetscapes, gardens and backyards in sun-kissed colors pile on the charm. The last line falls a little flat, but that's balanced by the last image of a bespectacled Yorkshire terrier with a plate of star cookies, a pile of books and a star-spangled nightshirt. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews