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Synopsis
1 hungry Vermont cow
2 stalks Hawaiian grass
1 tsp flower seeds from Madagascar
2 days of hard work from a New Hampshire hen
1 tsp Pacific Ocean
1 tsp dried-up Wyoming lake
2 ¼ c Kansas field
2 c West African beans
Mix. Bake until golden brown.
It may not be the usual recipe, but it's just what Grandma needs to bake her famous chocolate chip cookies!
You won't believe what is all in just one cookie! Yum!
Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz - Children's Literature
"They're on their way. I've got to get cookin'," says Grandma as she hangs up the phone. And one by one she selects the ingredients for her chocolate chip cookies. As the mixing and baking progress, we are given background information for each ingredient—where it comes from and how it is made. Meanwhile, Grandma's cat and dog are offering their comments in vignettes. From the butter we move to sugar, with directions for the recipe in large type and a multitude of facts around them in smaller print. Then come vanilla, eggs, salt, baking soda, flour, and chocolate, each with its double-page spread. The cookies are formed, put on the cookie sheet, and baked. As they cool, a world map shows where the ingredients have come from. Finally, we are reminded, is clean-up time. Bush has carefully designed double-page spreads that manage to provide the baking instructions and the factual information, while leaving space for the watercolor visuals of the charming cat and dog and some barnyard friends having a ball. Their antics are crucial to the visual storytelling while we observe Grandma attending to the cookie creation. Although tempted by the provided recipe (for which adult help should surely be indicated), readers will be handsomely rewarded by just multiple readings of this delightful tale. 2006, Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins, and Ages 5 to 8.