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ANGRY COOKIE

Name: ANGRY COOKIE
Author: Laura Dockrill
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0544-2

by Laura Dockrill ; illustrated by Maria Karipidou ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 12, 2019

An entertaining approach to helping children work through their emotions.

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A baked good goes through a whole emotional experience in this fourth wall–busting picture book.

“Oooohhh, not you again!” gripes a redheaded, buck-toothed chocolate-chip cookie. “Close this book this very second, you nosy noodle!” And so it goes, as the cookie does its best to keep you, the reader, from proceeding. After a premature “The end,” the cookie tries to get you to close the book, but of course persistent readers keep going. The cookie vents about its day, with trials and tribulations familiar to a young audience: no more strawberry toothpaste, an annoying friend, a bad haircut, and an ice cream shop that’s run out of its favorite sundae. But toward the end the cookie realizes “why I’m so angry at the whole world. Because nobody listens to me. Nobody sticks around.” But in fact the reader is still there, turning the cookie’s mood around, showing that listening is an important way to support a friend having a bad day. Energetic, expressive, childlike art (with one shot of a gratuitous, giggle-inducing cookie butt) pairs well with the goofy-but-sincere plot, and it’s sure to keep young audiences engaged. A host of other anthropomorphized foods and plants, including Barbra the recorder-playing cactus and a carrot that yells “Look at that cookie wearing the too-small hat,” helps fill out the scenes.

An entertaining approach to helping children work through their emotions. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 12, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-5362-0544-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Walker US/Candlewick

Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
GRAY
by Laura Dockrill ; illustrated by Lauren Child

- BOOK REVIEW
MY IDEAL BOYFRIEND IS A CROISSANT
by Laura Dockrill

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)