It’s easy to take a cookie out of the cookie jar: just reach in. But how does it get in there in the first place? It’s more complicated than you might think. Someone has to milk the cow, grow the wheat, harvest the sugar cane—everyone has a special job to do to make that cookie possible.
George Shannon and Julie Paschkis take us on a delicious cookie journey, showing how many hands work together so that one hand can take the cookie out—and so that you can take a huge yummy bite!
George Shannon is a popular storyteller and former children's librarian whose many notable picture books include Tomorrow's Alphabet, Lizard's Guest, and White Is for Blueberry. Tippy-Toe Chick, Go!, illustrated by Laura Dronzek, was named a Charlotte Zolotow Award Honor Book. George Shannon lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
On one hand, I liked the "Story of Stuff"-style way that this book presents itself: everything we buy, eat, or use was "touched" by many hands; many people work to bring our needs and wants to us.
What I wasn't so thrilled about was the ridiculous portrayal of food production. We see people plowing fields behind horses and churning butter pioneer-style. We see the single plump Holstein cow being fed and milked by hand, and a small flock of hens roaming around on the grass, pecking seeds. It would indeed be nicer for animals and the environment if farming still looked like this, but we all know that it does not. Any mass produced food item will be created factory-style. And it's rapidly becoming this way all over the world, as the West exports its industrial farming practices across the globe.
From a "global community" standpoint I like this book. From a "realistic portrayal of modern farming and manufacturing techniques" not so much. Why is a factory worker creating a cookie sheet but Eastern Europeans are using a butter churn? Lovely illustrations and a nice effort, though it does perpetuate stereotypes.
Summary: Who knew that so many different people work different jobs just so that we can eat cookies? This book takes us through the many different jobs that people work that can eventually lead to baking and eating delicious homemade cookies.
Evaluation: I love this book because no one ever thinks about everyone else that is working such as the person who made the cookie sheet, or the person who is taking care of the cows that helped make our butter or the glass of milk we drink... A perfect book for creating insight.
Teaching Point: I would read this book to students K-3 to help students see the many different workers and how we can really have so much appreciation for one cookie if we think about how we are able to eat it, thanks to everyone working.
Who Put the Cookies in the Cookie Jar?, written by George Shannon and illustrated by Julie Paschkis, is nominated for the 14-15 South Carolina Picture Book Award.
Who Put the Cookies in the Cookie Jar? is a great book for teaching students that we are all interdependent. Many young readers have likely never thought about what really goes into making a cookie (or anything else). It's much more than simply baking cookies with mom or dad and placing the treats in a jar. Who grew the flour to make the cookies, who created the cookie sheets for baking, who cared for the chickens that laid the eggs needed in the recipe, who drove the trucks that delivered ingredients to the grocery store?
The questions are seemingly endless, but this book at least helps students to start thinking about these things. By helping others and cooperating, they can achieve a common goal. It can be something as simple as making a cookie or something as huge as working toward a peaceful world. The idea of working together has to start somewhere. Why not with a cookie?
In addition to teaching students the concept of cooperation, Who Put the Cookies in the Cookie Jar? may also be a resource for teaching about natural resources, and how those resources are used to make products we see everyday.
Lots of hands can take the cookie from the cookie jar, but even more are involved in getting the cookies there in the first place. There are the hands that mix the dough and put it on the cookie sheet. Then there are the ones that made the cookie sheet and oven mitts too. Hands feed and milk the cow that makes the milk. Hands churn the butter. Hands plant and harvest the wheat. Hands feed and gather the eggs. Many hands doing important work, make that cookie arrive in the cookie jar.
This is a great spin on a traditional song. I’d pair it with the more traditional version in a program to get kids to see it from both sides. Shannon celebrates all of the hard work that goes into things that we take for granted. He focuses on their efforts but also on all of us being part of a larger global community that really matters.
Paschkis’ illustrations have a warm feel to them. They hearken back to more traditional images yet depict a modern and multicultural world. Their bright colors really make the book pop and will work well with a large group.
Perfect for a cookie story time, I’d advise having some cookies to share when reading this and other cookie books. Yum! Appropriate for ages 2-4.
Forget taking a village to raise a child. It takes a world to make a cookie! This lovely rhyming nonfiction book about all the people whose work goes into that cookie you love is enlightening, thought-provoking, and fun to read.
It starts at the end point, with kids taking cookies out of the jar. "One hand in the cookie jar takes a cookie out. How many hands put the cookie in is what the world’s about." Then it goes backward and shows someone making the cookies. Further back—hands make the cookie sheet and oven mitts, people feed and milk cows, sow and grind wheat, build chicken pens and gather eggs, etc.
It’s not linear, which I kind of wanted it to be at first. And, really, that non-linear jumble is how the world works! Instead it looks at a variety of the ingredients that go into that cookie and lots of different kinds of work that go into creating those ingredients. In the end, “Hands that clothe and feed them all. Heal and teach. Large and small. Hands that help the hands that help are what the world’s about…many put the cookie in, so one can take it out.” A beautiful book about our interdependence to make all the good things in the world. Gorgeous multicultural art from Julie Paschkis illuminates and clarifies the brief, elegant text.
The book presents the process of preparing cookies. However, this is not only about the cooking, but rather about the whole range of different processes which are necessary in order to have cookies. Growing wheat, milking cows, harvesting sugarcane - a child must be surprised how much work has to be put in so he or she could eat a cookie. What is more, the book shows many people who are responsible for this work - and these are Whites, Blacks, Asians, and so on. A kid may see that although we are seemingly different, we all have similar needs, and we all like cookies. All in all, people are interdependent and we have to learn how to cooperate.
The pictures are large and clear, the colors are bright but not lurid. Illustrations look as if they were painted. There is not much text and the font is easily readable. The target audience is 3-6 and I think that the authors' work appeals to children's taste.
What is interesting, there is a recipe for sugar cookies at the end of the book. I believe this is a great encouragement for a kid to cook something up together with his or her mum.
I never believed in when other people said it. And then I heard it in story time, in MY story time, in the summer of 2011..."Where does milk come from?" I asked, setting the stage for "Click, Clack, Moo". "From the store!" my young friends answered gleefully. Whoa. Hang on. Even my small friends are that disconnected. They really don't know where their food comes from. So began the library garden. (We have since discovered we don't like radishes much.) It has become essential, even in my small town world,to show children (and some adults) where that more than one person is involved in their nourishment; that even cookies from a store take a great deal of work to get there. George Shannon, with lovely rhyming text, and Julie Paschkis, with illustrations that contribute important, richly colored images, take young and old on a round the world journey in the life of a cookie. And the best part - you can serve cookies with this one! "Hands that help the hands that help are what the world's about."
It's easy to take a cookie out of the cookie jar: just reach in. But how does it get in there in the first place? It's more complicated than you might think. Someone has to milk the cow, grow the wheat, harvest the sugar cane - everyone has a special job to do to make that cookie possible. George Shannon and Julie Paschkis take us on a delicious cookie journey, showing how many hands work together so that one hand can take the cookie out and so that you can take a huge yummy bite!
A look at all the people who have a hand in putting delicious cookies in the cookie jar. From people who harvest the ingredients to people who stock the shelves at the grocery store this book takes an in depth look at something most of us have in our kitchen right at this moment. Illustrations are multicultural and rendered in gouache.
This would be a great read aloud and brings to mind those wonderful segments on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in which he'd take viewers on a behind the scenes tour of someplace of high appeal to children which ended up being cool for adults too.
This book surprised me. I was expecting to read a quirky, humorous book, but the illustrations by Julie Paschkis said otherwise. It's multi-cultural feel of the cover revealed something more. A story about people around the world who help contribute in the making of a cookie. It does take a village to produce something wonderful and tasty as a cookie. George Shannon created a short, rhyming book with a powerful message. This was a very quick read and comes with a sugar cookie recipe in the back.
Ok, I'll grant you that this book doesn't show how food is produced in our "modern times." But it's nice for young kids to learn the basics of how food is made anyway (e.g. flour is made from ground-up wheat). I really enjoyed reading this book with my toddler as a fun introduction to the idea that there is more to the story than 'see food in the store, bring it to your house.' How did it get there? Who helped make it? Did it need to get processed? Etc. It started some really good, valuable conversations. And I love the artwork, so that's a bonus for mommy. :)
2.5. I am soooo torn on this book. On one level, I love the concept that simple cookie involves many in its making and that cookies are made around the world, with people contributing in different ways. But,the way it is told one can infer these are the steps in how a cookie is made and it is not a true depiction, rather it is an amalgamation. I am probably over thinking it.
Love the recipe at the end and now I want cookies.
Rhyming text explains the many hands that are involved in the process of making cookies. Vibrant illustrations show people from around the world involved in growing the ingredients for cookies. Many books for children show the food items for cooking but this book mentions manufacturing the kitchen accessories and tools as well. A sugar cookie recipe is included at the end. Jacket flap has the usual author and illustrator info, including their cookie preferences!
This is a story that relates to the mind of a child. My son thinks the slackers working at Subway are real bakers, and you know what? That's okay. There's a sort of sweet naïveté involved in how a child views things, and I'm not about to shatter that. I've worked in the Midwest, and seen factory farming of animals and corn/soy beans. That would not make a good children's book. Wait till they're a little older to school them on such dark realities.
Who Put the Cookies in the Cookie Jar by George Shannon Audio book about a cookie, how it's made and what goes into it. We just reach in the cookie jar. How many hands put the cookie in? Talks of all the tasks needed, even for the ingredient. Includes a recipe for sugar cookies and how to change up the recipe. I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
This book is an amazing book. The illustrations are unbelievable. I love the detail that has been placed into each drawing and the way that each matches the words in the story. I believe that this should win the Caldecott because the illustrator did an amazing job of detail and following the story with the pictures
This book is wonderful to read to students! It highlights the importance of teamwork and what goes into making cookies and putting them in a cookie jar? The structure of this book shows sequence on the steps to make a delicious cookie. For a literacy lesson, I would have students to understand the importance of sequencing. If they steps are out of order, will they be able to make a cookie?
Beautiful counterpoint to who took the cookies from the cookie jar. This story looks at everyone who makes the cookies that get put in there from the farmers and animals that harvest and provide the raw materials to the trucks that deliver to stores and bakeries. LOVE!
Great book that easily explains all the people, jobs, and tools that contribute to the tasty treat in the cookie jar. Bright illustrations have a folk art "feel", and were executed in gouche on Arches paper.
This colorfully illustrated book shows that many people work to make one thing. People in factories, at farms and at home all collaborate to make a cookie so that one person can enjoy it. Great theme of cooperation.
The story is a behind the scenes look, if you will, on how the cookies got in the jar. Simple text explains different parts it takes to make cookies while Julie Paschkis' sweet, colorful illustrations show people all around the world doing their part for the cookies. Good message.
Do you like to make cookies or eat them? Do you wonder where all the ingredients come from? From oven mitts and cookie pans to sugar, flour and butter this lively and charming books shows us how to get our favorite, delicious snack. Reviewer 5
Not the most amazing book I've ever read, but I can see it being a great addition to a story time about community, and helping, or cookies :) I like that there were few words, and it very clearly broadcast its message of a community coming together to create something together. Cute!
I liked the concept of teaching kids about where their food comes from but the book did not illustrate modern farming methods so I'm afraid it is misleading for small children. The folksy illustrations were colorful and appealing, but non realistic enough for a nonfiction book.
How did a cookie get in a cookie jar? This book simply explores all the different people throughout the world who help with each ingredient and supply needed to make a cookie.
This book is very well written. It goes through all the people who put in effort to make the cookies that are in your cookie jar at home. This book plays very well on diversity and culture. I would recommend this book to any age but mostly 2-4.
Taking a cookie from the cookie jar is easy, but it takes many hands to help put the cookies in the jar. This story reveals all the many hands of people working together to make it happen. There is also a sugar coolie recipe at the end of the story.
Fun little book about ALL the people who helped make the cookies... including the factory worker who made the cookie tray! Cookie recipe at the end. Great book to read and talk about with the grade 2 and under set.