Cookie’s Fortune – Book Review
Reviewed by Sherry Dunn
Cookie’s Fortune is an incredible book that teaches children about the humane treatment of animals and the values of empathy and respect.
It is a simple, but heartwarming story portraying a stray dog who searches for food, shelter, and comfort.
Cookie’s Fortune is a story that is all too common.
Shelters are full of lost or abandoned pets.
This tale is based on the author’s adoption of a stray dog she found at a subway station.
This hardcover book has a removable dust cover.
Bios of Lynda Graham-Barber (Author) and Nancy Lane (Illustrator) on the front, inside flap of the cover.
Inside, the end papers have illustrations of scattered and opened fortune cookies with their fortunes clearly showing.
Each fortune has a paw print on it.
Don’t skip over reading these fortunes.
They are very clever.
Each one relates to the story.
There are many two-page spreads with large, colorful, and simple illustrations, making Cookie’s Fortune a great book to read in a classroom, a library full of kids, or in a child’s room as a bedtime story.
The book itself is a 9” x 9” hardback with 24 pages.
It is well constructed and full of beautiful, large illustrations.
The author uses repetition throughout the book which is great for children.
Repetition creates a sense of familiarity in the text.
“The little dog ran and ran and ran.”
By repeating the same words over and over, children start to anticipate and get excited about what will come next.
The Gryphon Press is the publisher, and their motto is, “A voice for the voiceless.”
Their picture books are great for preparing a child for their first companion animal.
The book’s cover shows a sweet, nervous dog looking over her shoulder at the reader, Chinese food scraps litter the background.
The book opens with “The little dog ran and ran and ran. She ran until her tongue scraped the ground.”
She was a stray, and she was lost. Nothing was familiar to her.
She wandered into a junkyard, climbed into a car, and fell asleep.
She woke up hungry. She followed smells which led her to a dumpster. The dog ate but the scraps of food did not taste like home.
Her fur was full of prickly burrs.
Is the forgotten dog saved from a forgotten car in a junkyard of forgotten cars?
Does she ever get a meal that’s not out of a dumpster?
How did she get the name Cookie?
Did she ever get adopted?
Of course, Cookie ultimately has good fortune.
As with all The Gryphon Press children’s picture books the last page (Helping Dogs Like Cookie) is filled with information for parents and other adults who want to learn more about shelter animals.
Check out animal rescue websites for additional information about giving shelter animals a second chance.
I highly recommend this book.
You won’t be disappointed, and children won’t be disappointed.
About the Book
Title: Cookie’s Fortune
Author: Lynda Graham-Barber
Illustrator: Nancy Lane
Publisher: The Gryphon Press
ISBN-10: 9780940719392
ISBN-13: 978-0940719392
Available at amazon.com.
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