Customer Reviews

Tough Cookie

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is hard to rate. If it were for adults, as a novelty, it would clearly be five stars. For teenagers who have discovered "hard-boiled" detective fiction, this book would also be five stars. I have to believe that most of the story and humor would blow past the 4-8 year old set, that is the book's ostensible audience.

The illustrations, on the other hand, fit the age grouping nicely. They are done by cutting vividly-colored paper, creating constructions with the cut-outs, and then photographing the results.

The whole story takes place in a cookie jar, from the perspective of the cookies who have been around for awhile (don't think of them as stale, think of them as experienced). As is usual, putting a new viewpoint in place creates the potential for interesting new ideas. How do you stop depredations against the other cookies?

I wish that the classic noir novels from the thirties had the humor of this book. "I kiss her. 'You're a smart cookie,' I say. 'Maybe being a tough cookie isn't enough.'"

Now, if you have a child with great imagination, and you explain humor well, it may work for a younger child. But be prepared for the difficulty of explaining a satire of something you child has not yet seen or read.

You should also think about ways that low lifes (crumbs) can make all of the difference in real life.

Look at life from a new angle to see its potential!

TOUGH COOKIE is one of the most creative and humorous books I have read. Because of its mix of adult humor with children's imagination, I think it is best suited for children ages 11 and up. What an excellent use of language and humor!

I work in a children's library, and I read children's books all the time; this book stands out above and beyond many others. It's funny and cleverly illustrated with paper cut-outs, a specialty of the author. I've shared this book with all ages (including my co-workers) and it has been well received by all of them!

Yeah, it's terse. Tough. Even cynical at times. But funny as all get out. It's probably no big trick to pull off a noirish children's book with a protagonist based on Bogart roles, but Wisniewski has just the right touch. It's clever/sassy for grownups ("A slap stings my cheek like a velvet bee." ) but colorful and funny for children.

Our hero, "Tough Cookie," aided by the smart and svelte Pecan Sandy, live in a cookie jar with assorted, uhhh, cookies (and crumbs). Tough Cookie and friends go after "Fingers," a ravenous foe who puts Cookie's former partner "Chips" in the cookie hospital: Like Sam Spade, Cookie goes after him (or her) "It's a long ride to the Top of the Jar. I begin to think maybe I'm a nutbar to do this. Then I think of Chips..." 29 pages of fun, it's an inventive twist on a proven formula.

Readers will delight in this visit to the cookie jar underworld where class is deternimed by your freshness and staleness dooms one to the bottom of the jar. David Wisniewski mimics a Mickey Spillane novel in voice and plot while delighting us with a whimsical look at a civilization that may exist beneath the lids of our cookie jars.

This is a very different sort of children's book. It is told in classic detective type voice (i.e. "They call me a tough cookie. I guess I am. Came from a regular batch. Lots of dough."). As one reviewer pointed out, most of the humor is above the head of my 2 and 4 year olds. However, they certainly understand that the cookies are in the jar and the villain is fingers reaching in and wanting to eat them; to my kids that is funny stuff. They also love the illustrations. I laugh every time I hear my husband reading this story. It's definitely different, but in my opinion--that's a great thing. Highly recommend.

The book has a great story for the third and fourth grade levels. I read it to second graders and change some of the harder words to help them understand what is going on. I also use different voices in the book and it makes the kids go wild.

Tough Cookie is a fabulous book to get kids to think in a comparative way. The author did a wonderful job of using a cookie in a cookie jar as an analogy to life in a city/community. When introducing this book I have a clear cookie jar available so kids have a visual of life in the jar. I wish there were more books out there with the creativity, humor and depth that this one offers.

Tough Cookie by David Wisniewski is a departure from his retelling of folktales from various cultures, which the illustrator has done in at least four of his previous books. His book, Golem, won for him a Caldecott award, which is a showcase for his cutwork art talent, however, this book shows his sense of humor and creativity. When reading this book the reader learns that Wisniewski is not only an award winning artist, but he also has a sense of humor too. What a wonderful combination! This book is a crime thriller in which Tough Cookie, a detective, and his girlfriend, Pecan Sandy, must solve the mystery of what is happening to the missing crumbs.It shows how rough life can be at the bottom of a cookie jar, especially when Fingers shows up. It's a must read for all ages, featuring Wisniewski's characteristic cutwork illustrations.