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THE LAST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE

Name: THE LAST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE
Author: Jamie Rix
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0086-9

by Jamie Rix ; illustrated by Clare Elsom ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 4, 2015

Who knew good manners could be so dangerous? (Picture book. 4-8)

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The last chocolate chip cookie leads to an adventure and kidnapping by aliens…all because one young boy used his manners.

When Jack reaches for the last treat, his mother gasps. “Where are your manners? Offer the last chocolate chip cookie to everyone else first.” Well, “everyone else” is a lot of people and includes family members, the cat, his teacher, the window cleaner, the bus driver, and the dentist. When no one local wants it, he travels the world looking for a taker. A green, bug-eyed space being is finally hungry, but not for the cookie—for Jack! Luckily, though, Splagly’s mother is teaching him the same manners Jack’s is, and he has to offer the human to everyone else first; humorously, their names and jobs line up with the same ones Jack encountered. Finally back home again (Jack’s mother takes Splagly up on his offer), Jack digs the cookie out of his pocket to eat, but even he passes. Do you want it? Rix has the timing just right, turning the joke on its ear before it gets old. And Elsom’s brilliantly colored illustrations, which appear to be digital, play up the ridiculousness of the situation. Fortunately, readers can be spared the pain of having to offer up the last cookie: there’s a recipe for replenishing the plate!

Who knew good manners could be so dangerous? (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4998-0086-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Little Bee Books

Review Posted Online: June 5, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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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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THE BIG CHEESE

From the Food Group series

by Jory John ; illustrated by Pete Oswald ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 2023

From curds to riches, from meltdown to uplift—this multicourse romp delivers.

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A winning wheel of cheddar with braggadocio to match narrates a tale of comeuppance and redemption.

From humble beginnings among kitchen curds living “quiet lives of pasteurization,” the Big Cheese longs to be the best and builds success and renown based on proven skills and dependable results: “I stuck to the things I was good at.” When newcomer Wedge moves to the village of Curds-on-Whey, the Cheese’s star status wobbles and falls. Turns out that quiet, modest Wedge is also multitalented. At the annual Cheese-cathlon, Wedge bests six-time winner Cheese in every event, from the footrace and chess to hat making and bread buttering. A disappointed Cheese throws a full-blown tantrum before arriving at a moment of truth: Self-calming, conscious breathing permits deep relief that losing—even badly—does not result in disaster. A debrief with Wedge “that wasn’t all about me” leads to further realizations: Losing builds empathy for others; obsession with winning obscures “the joy of participating.” The chastened cheddar learns to reserve bragging for lifting up friends, because anyone can be the Big Cheese. More didactic and less pun-rich than previous entries in the Food Group series, this outing nevertheless couples a cheerful refrain with pithy life lessons that hit home. Oswald’s detailed, comical illustrations continue to provide laughs, including a spot with Cheese onstage doing a “CHED” talk.

From curds to riches, from meltdown to uplift—this multicourse romp delivers. (Picture book. 4-8)