Cookie: Bite Sized Life Lessons By Amy Rosenthal

Cookie: Bite Sized Life Lessons 

Amy Rosenthal
Jane Dyer
Harper Collins

April 25, 2006
40 Pages

     I chose this book because I used to read it to my son when he was younger. He and I loved this book very much and every time I see it I think of him. This is a wholesome book about manners and what it means to respect someone or something. There is a great line in the book that tells allot about the story. What does it mean to be trustworthy? Being trustworthy means if you ask me to hold your cookie I will still have it to give back to you. This book is full of bite sized life lessons. Parts of the book even read like a dictionary. Great vocabulary words will come from this text.

     This is a beautifully illustrated book. The illustrator had great artistic style. The story looks like it was set in the past. He used folk art to share his story through pictures. Water colors were used. You can see the warm hues when you see the picture of the young girl with red curly hair. The illustrations in this book take you back to life before cell phones and internet.

     I have yet to use this book in the classroom but can hardly wait to get started. This is a great book to use with young elementary students. Lessons about having good manners and being trustworthy are told in text that a child really understands. Using this book to teach new vocabulary is a great way for students to comprehend the meanings of words like trustworthy and cooperate. A lesson for some of the older classes could be based on teaching antonyms. There are wonderful examples in the book. For example greedy and generous, proud and modest, and pessimistic and optimistic. There are actually so many different lessons that could be planned using this book.