The Cookie Fiasco

K-Gr 2—In this book within a book, readers are greeted by Elephant and Piggie, who are ready to share "some of their favorite books" with readers. Santat tackles the subject of division in a way that young kids will relate to—figuring out how to split up cookies fairly. The characters include a nervous purple hippo, a crocodile, a squirrel with pigtails, and a blue squirrel with glasses. They have a problem. There are four of them and only three cookies. How will they divide them up equally? Maybe the two squirrels should share one. Hippo suggests they share by size, but the crocodile protests, "WAIT! You are HUGE! You would get all the cookies!" Finally, a happy accident presents the solution. Those looking for "Elephant & Piggie" read-alikes will not be disappointed. The story is similarly told entirely in speech bubbles. The emotions of the characters are effectively conveyed through these speech bubbles, which change in size to express excitement and frustration, and the comic-style illustrations, which add dramatic appeal and humor. The language is more complex than most beginning reader texts, but kids won't mind.