Angry Cookie

An expressive cookie with arms, legs, and red scribbly hair (perhaps resembling a round potato) wakes up mad. He accusatorily addresses the reader: “Close this book this very second, you nosy noodle!” In the manner of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, the cookie describes all that went wrong the day before. His roommate, a cactus, played an irritating song on her recorder; he got a bad haircut (and a hat too small to cover it); and the ice cream parlor ran out of his favorite flavor. Lamenting that “nobody listens to me. Nobody sticks around,” the cookie perks up when he realizes the reader is still there. The character’s direct engagement with its audience is good fun. Ages 3–7. [em](Mar.) [/em]