Review by Booklist Review
PreS-Gr. 1. Cookies provide the framework for this clever book, but the focus is really on the lessons to be learned about life. Designed as a dictionary of sorts, the book has an appealing design and delightful, endearing illustrations. Each spread features a word and a definition, which are further explained in an engaging picture. For instance, Cooperate means, / How about you add the chips while I stir? A young, earnest redhead with tousled curls stirs the batter while a rabbit and a dog dressed in children's clothes help out. Patient means waiting while the cookies bake. 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. There's much to think and talk about here, all made extremely palatable by Dyer's watercolors; it's hard to think of an illustrator who could have made this work better. Children and charmingly humanized animals mingle as they learn life lessons about everything from being open-minded to having regrets (too many cookies!). It all seems so real that young readers will want to jump into the pages and join the gang for milk and cookies. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
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 (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
This folksy glossary of such terms as patient, proud, modest, and courageous amusingly defines everything in relation to the baking, eating, and sharing of cookies: e.g., ""Cooperate means, How about you add the chips while I stir?"" Dyer's gently whimsical pictures show children interacting with quaintly dressed rabbits, dogs, and other animals. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
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) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
