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Overview
Kanga wants to make cookies, but someone has eaten all the cookie dough.Who could it be? Join in the fun and find out! This rollicking whodunit begs to be read aloud. The refrain will remind teachers and kids of the preschool game Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar, making Who Ate All the Cookie Dough? a perfect story-time choice in conjunction with the popular classroom game.
Even the youngest readers can solve the mystery if they look closely— preschool children will want to gobble this up!
Synopsis
Eeny, meeny, miney, moe!
Who ate all the cookie dough?
Help Kanga and her animal friends solve this delicious cookie mystery!
Children's Literature
This repetitive tale for the very young begins with the first line of the rhyme "Eeny, meeny, miney, moe," substituting "Who ate all the cookie dough?" for the second line. Mother Kangaroo asks various baby animals in turn until the refrain becomes clear. The cumulative pattern is reinforced visually by the growing stack of peering animal heads along the left margins as each in turn denies culpability. Young children will delight in the change of pattern when the monkey is suspected. There is irresistible humor in the spread in which the reader can spot the monkey's tail hanging from the tree above, while the animals, three looking left, three looking right, see nothing. The presence of this tantalizing tail builds suspense and suspicion while at the same time inviting readers to sympathize with the monkey: cookie dough is after all quite tempting! The barest settings (a hint of savannah, the merest blue-gray swirl for a water hole, an anchoring tree in some of the gutters) provide the backdrops, keeping young listeners' attention focused on the character in question and the immediate action. The comical scene in which animals solemnly pore over cookie-crumb clues and begin to solve the mystery provides the final break in the pattern, allowing for a clever resolution. Mother Kangaroo's apron becomes a flap revealing the culprit. Use of this well-known rhyme is fitting since the original, with many variations, has traditionally been used to point the finger, for example, to choose "it" in games like tag. Reviewer: Christina M. Desai
Editorials
Children's Literature -
This repetitive tale for the very young begins with the first line of the rhyme "Eeny, meeny, miney, moe," substituting "Who ate all the cookie dough?" for the second line. Mother Kangaroo asks various baby animals in turn until the refrain becomes clear. The cumulative pattern is reinforced visually by the growing stack of peering animal heads along the left margins as each in turn denies culpability. Young children will delight in the change of pattern when the monkey is suspected. There is irresistible humor in the spread in which the reader can spot the monkey's tail hanging from the tree above, while the animals, three looking left, three looking right, see nothing. The presence of this tantalizing tail builds suspense and suspicion while at the same time inviting readers to sympathize with the monkey: cookie dough is after all quite tempting! The barest settings (a hint of savannah, the merest blue-gray swirl for a water hole, an anchoring tree in some of the gutters) provide the backdrops, keeping young listeners' attention focused on the character in question and the immediate action. The comical scene in which animals solemnly pore over cookie-crumb clues and begin to solve the mystery provides the final break in the pattern, allowing for a clever resolution. Mother Kangaroo's apron becomes a flap revealing the culprit. Use of this well-known rhyme is fitting since the original, with many variations, has traditionally been used to point the finger, for example, to choose "it" in games like tag. Reviewer: Christina M. DesaiSchool Library Journal
PreS-Gr 1- "Eeny, meeny, miney, moe!/Who ate all the cookie dough?" a kangaroo asks various animal friends as she searches for the culprit. Each creature denies the theft and joins Kanga in the hunt. Monkey seems the likely suspect until the critters lead Kanga and readers to a lift-up flap that reveals her pouched joey licking a spoon. The stylized gouache illustrations place the characters against white backdrops decorated with abstract patterns that suggest flowers and trees. The animals are large and painted with a light, humorous touch. This book's repetition and rhymes-reminiscent of the question-and-answer rhythm of Bill Martin, Jr.'s Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Holt, 1983)-make it a good choice for beginning readers and for chant-along storytimes.-Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha Public Library, WI