Who Put the Cookies in the Cookie Jar?

Instead of asking, as the children's singing game does, "Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?" Shannon's title wonders how the cookies got there in the first place. Text and distinctive folk art tell a cookie's backstory, focusing on all the many hands involved in making it. "Hands that feed and milk the cow. / Churn the butter. Guide the plow." The rhyming text recognizes the people involved in the baking, creation of the cookie sheet, harvesting of the sugar cane, all the way back to the people who fed and clothed and cared for all those more directly involved in the process. Paschkis's bright and bold gouache illustrations show a diverse network of characters doing their parts with joy. The final wordless double-page spread is a feast of color and of people enjoying the cookies of their labor; even the cow has a cookie in her mouth. This simple package provides a thought-provoking and positive global concept of product development that can be explored on a variety of levels. A recipe for sugar cookies is included at the end. julie roach