Cookie Time

by Jessie Sima

From the New York Times bestselling creator of Not Quite Narwhal comes a tasty picture book about two kids who get into time travel shenanigans while trying to skip waiting for cookies to bake!

Kat and Ari love cookie time, their special tradition with Grandpa and his dog, Biscuit. It’s always fun and oh, so delicious! But waiting for the cookies to be ready is so hard. What better way to skip to the good part than a time machine?

The two plan to jump a little into the future, to when the cookies are out of the oven, but they overshoot and go way too far ahead! And when Kat and Ari try to return, they still can’t get the timing right. They have fun meeting prehistoric dinosaurs, futuristic robots, and even past versions of themselves…but just wish they could get back to Grandpa. Could they have been wrong about the best part of cookie time?

Genres: Picture Books, Food, Childrens, Time Travel, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Family

Kindle Edition

First published September 3, 2024

About the author

Jessie Sima is an author and illustrator of picture books. They grew up in a small town in southern New Jersey and now write and draw in a creaky house in New York State. When not making books, Jessie can be found reading graphic novels, watching spooky movies, and playing outside with dogs.

Visit them online at jessiesima.com!

Reviews

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waiting is so hard after Grandpa puts the cookies in the oven that Kat and Ari decide to hop in their time machine and go into the future to right after the cookies are finished. But things don't quite go like planned.

Readers can debate whether or not Kat and Ari really travel through time and what evidence they want to site. I personally think perhaps they whiled away the time playing and using their imaginations, although I do love a good time travel story. And I liked that the children respected the feeelings of others and seemed to learn the cookies were worth waiting for. I also personally think I spotted adult Kat and Ari when they travel to the far future, but that's also up for interpretation. See what you think.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very sweet, silly time travel book about kids who are too impatient to wait for cookies to bake in the oven, so they invent a time machine. Chaos ensues when their dog interferes.

Jesse Sima always delivers!

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time travel, cookies, and beautiful illustrations? Sign me UP. This one is adorable.

[Shanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very cute and colorful book about waiting for cookies to be done. Yes, this is ultimately what this book is about…waiting. But it’s also about the way we can use our imagination to entertain ourselves while waiting. And how sometimes, some things are worth the wait.

Two siblings (or cousins maybe) can’t wait for Grandpa’s cookies to be done. So they devise a plan: they use their Time Machine (a box with an arrow that points to the past, present and future) to travel a little bit forward so they can eat the just baked cookies. Of course, like most things with time machines, not all goes according to plan. Will the kids fix the time machine’s problem and get home safely? Or will they be stuck in a different time zone forever? With a blend of science fiction and child-like wonder, Jessie Sima’s picture book delivers a fun story readers won’t soon forget.

Mia’s Year of Books: Day 206

[Sirah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two children are looking forward to cookie time. In fact, they cannot wait a minute longer, so they invent a time machine to bring them to the moment the cookies come out of the oven. But the lever on the time machine is fickle, so they end up on an entire time-traveling adventure instead.

Adorable illustrations. A fun and cozy concept. I found myself wishing that the narrative style had been more charming rather than just straightforward. It would have made this book perfectly delightful if it had felt like a child was really telling the story. But I can't really pick on this book for not being everything I dreamed it could be. It just felt like it was missing something. However, it has made me hungry, so I'm going to go make some cookies now.

[Nicole Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book for my honest opinion.

This sweet book is not only about waiting but about how waiting can help show you what is truly important in life. I love the repetition of the illustrations and text, from comments on rudeness to the cute family photos in the end papers. I also love how the kids decide for themselves that somethings are worth waiting for and that sometimes “waiting” with the people you love is what really makes cookies special, a call on the special ingredient of your childhood cookies is love. A great book for Grandparents’ Day or any day, because cookies!

[Jared White · Rating 4 out of 5]

An imaginative adventure about how waiting can be hard, but with the right mindset (and willingness to fill that waiting time with other small pleasures), it can also be part of what makes an experience memorable and enjoyable. As a male who loves baking myself, I love that it's the grandpa who's baking with his grandkids and I really like his "Flour Power" apron. :)

The illustrations in this are adorable and I think the length of the text would work well for a lower or upper-elementary storytime. Because of the size and details in a few of the illustrations, I think this would work best with a smaller (up to 20) group size.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cookie time with grandpa is amazing and a time of love. However, they don't like waiting for the cookies to cook so invent a time machine to take them to the future after the cookies have cooled. Unfortunately, the guide on the machine is bumped and they travel too far ahead. Readers see them move back and forward in time but not get closer to the time they first set. They realize they are happiest when they wait for the cookies to bake and spend that time with grandpa. The illustrations capture the time frames and the character expressions to encourage readers to be part of the story.

[K.C. Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute idea. I love how the endpapers are telling part of the story!

Okay, but can we talk about the future as depicted here? It's beautiful??? In an era were the future feels ominous af, this take on our potential future got me unnecessarily emotional. The detail of the house being taken back by nature was such a beautiful bittersweet detail. I'm just saying, the story itself is fun and silly, but there were layers here that I was not expecting from a kid's book about time-traveling cookie fiends.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kat and Ari love their cookie time with Grandpa, but it is so very hard to wait. They decide to build their own time machine to travel into the future to when the cookies are just done. This way they don't have to wait for the cookies! However, when their plans don't go quite exactly as they hope (thanks to the little paws of their rambunctious pet dog), they end up traveling back and forth through time, missing the cookies each time. What will they do?

[Nan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute. As with most of Jessie Sima’s books, the artwork is the most impressive. Here the text is a little boring. Fun to dwell on the pictures and notice things like the dog’s ball and the dinosaur and see the extra details. Story is that the kids are making cookies and it’s hard to wait for them to bake, so they make a time travel machine to speed up time. Nice lesson that the best thing about time is spending it with people we love. Very cute relationship with grandpa.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely perfect picture book! I laughed out loud so many times and then got weepy at the turn. Perfectly captures the desire for things to happen while encouraging kids to remember that everything comes in it's time. The art is so fun - expect little ones to ask for a cardboard to make their own time machine after reading. Highly recommend! My favorite PB read this year!

[SamSamSam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, Jessie Sima is just so talented. There's so much fabulous attention to detail in this one, including the changes in font as the characters travel through time. Love the little running gags. Great illustrations and text that was clearly intended for storytelling. This would be great for a pre-k or older audience.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kat and Ari love making cookies and eating them with grandpa. But the waiting part while the cookies bake is hard. So they decide to use a time machine to go to the future when the cookies are ready. But the time machine doesn't work quite like they are hoping...and they learn a valuable lesson in the process.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a cute picture book about Ari and Kat, who love cookies and spending time with their Grandpa. They have a special tradition of baking cookies with Grandpa and his dog, Biscuit. However, they also get impatient waiting for the cookies to be done, so they do some "time traveling'" while they wait for the cookies to be finished. The illustrations are amazing, too!

[Mo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The pitch black open mouths were strange and distracting. It looked like they had tar on their face or black clown lips. I think the lack of tongue and/or teeth is why.

Nice cameos of a robot, narwhal, and red balloon dog from the author's previous books (Love, Z; Not Quite Narwhal; and Spencer's New Pet).

[Pam Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cookie lovers watch out - you will get new ideas for what seems like an endless wait when cookies are baking! Jessie Sima just knows how to capture kids' attention and weave a great story. Loved the ending too!

[GS Dachslove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kids make a time machine to make cookies cook faster. Cute, a bit meta, lesson learned is that cookie time is more about time with grandpa than the actual cookies. Lots of details that would make this a fun one-on-one book, but clear enough to be good for story time

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

"But waiting was very difficult."

Ari and Kat love to bake cookies with grandpa, but it's hard to wait for them to be finished. So, they decide to build a time machine and go just far enough ahead to be able to eat the cookies immediately. "At least, that was the plan."

[Ellon · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars (I loved it)

This was so darn cute! I love that it's grandpa who bakes cookies with the kids. I love that the kids realize that the waiting part can actually be the fun part. Plus time travel and imagination and cookies! I will definitely be purchasing for my school library!

[Terresa Wellborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect picture book for those who love cookies and/or time travel and/or grandpas.
Whimsical, imaginative illustrations full of warmth, light, and discovery. Just read it!

Themes: COOKIES, family, time travel
Ages: K-2nd grade
Pub year: 2024

[Ross Felton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one has the right spark. The art & the story are cute, playful, creative, and modern. It kept my kids engaged and after reading the story they continued to have fun exploring time travel ideas. Good stuff

[MAYA QUARTZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story concept, but I think it was a little too advanced for my 5-year-old to grasp. Probably better for a little bit older of a child maybe 6 or 7.
The art style wasn’t my favorite, but that’s just personal preference.

[Emily Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so sweet and cute but as a read aloud this was not necessarily the most entertaining. The pictures are gorgeous and the story is adorable, but I don't think it lent itself to being read aloud to children. It did not get a checkout but the kids did stay pretty engaged.

[Sharni · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new Jessie Sima picture book is always something to celebrate and while this one didn’t have any narwhals - it did have a pair of cookie focused time travellers with cookie plans that just wouldn’t go to plan…

[Roben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waiting is hard. Especially waiting for Grandpa's cookies.
So Kat and Ari build a time machine. But of course there are a few glitches. And they learn that the waiting is part of the joy.

Peek under the dust jacket! The cover of the book is different.

[Victoria Sanchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and a little different than her normal style.

[kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

primer (2007) walked so that this could run

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can't go wrong with a Jessie Sima book

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute.