ANGRY COOKIE

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.