An insatiable desire for cookies, a dress-up trunk and a young girl’s purposeful imagination are at the heart of this ingenuous tale from Lewis. Cut off from cookies for an entire week after overindulging her baked-goodie habit, Florence exercises Machiavellian-like plots in an attempt to breach the cookie embargo. Her zany ideas, fueled in part by her pet monkey Arnold, will keep readers chuckling—and possibly taking notes. However, her resolute mom is not to be swayed and the opposing sides reach a treaty—chocolate-dipped bananas. For fellow cookie-deprived readers, Lewis includes a recipe for Monkey Bananas at the conclusion. Granström’s comical watercolor illustrations capture the fey, fanciful imaginings of the single-minded Florence and the wry exasperation of her mom. Blueprint-style diagrams—done in a young, wobbly hand—add to the comical flair. Good fun with a healthy message at its core, this is a tale both parents and their cookie-obsessed offspring can enjoy. (Picture book. 4-8)
