COOKIESAURUS CHRISTMAS

A table full of cookie cutters and an empty plate for Santa, seen from above, set the stage for the return of Cookiesaurus Rex after his eponymous debut (2017).

All of the cookies—bell, star, gingerbread boy, and the reptilian, self-described “King of All Cookies”—hope to be picked for Santa’s plate. But it’s Cookiesaurus who takes issue with the baker, whose hand moves everyone but him. He points out that “it’s not fair. Dinos have Christmas spirit too!” He does everything he can to be included, including pole-vaulting to the plate with a candy cane (and spilling the milk), but the hand keeps putting him back on the tray. Cookiesaurus’ snarky dialogue, delivered in speech bubbles, provides the humor that moves this adventure along: “Me! Pick Me!… / …What’s so special about Star? Is it because she twinkles? Because I can tinkle too…I mean TWINKLE!” After a great deal of effort, he finally gets put on the plate, but all of the others have fallen in the process. The fear that he’ll be put on Santa’s “Naughty List” compels him to put the others back on the plate. After one last outburst (“Wait one stinkin’, stompin’ minute!”), he’s rewarded in the end. Colorful illustrations bring the expressive cookies to life; the hand that wields “Mr. Spatula” is white.

For kids who like to have a little rambunctious, sloppy fun with their Christmas baking.