Heidi Heckelbeck and the Cookie Contest (Heidi Heckelbeck Series #3)

by Wanda Coven, Priscilla Burris (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Heidi's misadventures take her to a cookie contest, but when her cookies aren't good enough, whatever will she do?

Heidi Heckelbeck mixes up a magical cookie concoction in a new whimsically witchy adventure that’s perfect for beginning readers.

Heidi can’t wait to enter the famous Heckelbeck Chocolate Chunk Cookies in the annual cookie contest at Brewster Elementary. But when Melanie Maplethorpe laughs and says that Heidi’s cookies are “blah,” Heidi decides they could use a little magic. The result of Heidi’s revised recipe is sure to steal the show…but wait—what’s that strange smell?
The Heidi Heckelbeck series is perfect for readers who want a “grown-up” format but are not quite ready for lengthy chapter books. With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Heidi Heckelbeck chapter books are perfect for beginning readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442441651
Publisher:	Little Simon
Publication date:	05/08/2012
Series:	Heidi Heckelbeck Series , #3
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.54(w) x 7.18(h) x 0.36(d)
Lexile:	480L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Wanda Coven has always loved magic. When she was little, she used to make secret potions from smooshed shells and acorns. Then she would pretend to transport herself and her friends to enchanted places. Now she visits other worlds through writing. Wanda lives with her husband and son in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They have three cats: Hilda, Agnes, and Claw-dia.

Priscilla Burris is the illustrator and author-illustrator of many books for children. She attributes her love of children’s books and library visits to the East Los Angeles Library. Priscilla loves her role of creating characters and stories for readers everywhere. She lives in sunny Arizona, where she finds the sunrises and sunsets awe-inspiring.

Read an Excerpt

ME WANT COO-KIE!

 

 

  Yum!

  Yummy!

  Yummers!

  Heidi Heckelbeck had cookies on her mind. She had just signed up for the Brewster Elementary cookie contest. Heidi had never entered a contest before. She wondered if she would win. She had won a raffle one time, but that had been super-easy. All she’d had to do was write her name on a strip of paper and stick it in a box with some other names. The prize had been a silver turtle necklace. Winning had been fun, and now, more than anything, Heidi wanted to win the school cookie contest.

   

 

   

 

  What kind of cookies should I make? wondered Heidi. She could make oatmeal raisin, but raisins were kind of squishy and gross. Peanut butter cookies were good, but not her favorite. How about chocolate chunk? Chocolate chunk would be a winner, thought Heidi. They were also her favorite.

  Heidi hopped onto a step stool and grabbed the family recipe box from the cupboard. She found the tab marked “Desserts” and thumbed through the recipes.

  “Aha!” said Heidi out loud.

  “Aha, what?” asked Heidi’s mom as she walked into the kitchen.

  “I found our famous chocolate chunk cookie recipe,” said Heidi. “I entered a cookie contest at school. It’s this Saturday.”

 

   

 

 

“Need some help?” asked Mom.

  “Do I EVER,” said Heidi. “I’ve never made cookies all by myself.”

  “Let’s gather the ingredients first,” said Mom.

  Henry, Heidi’s five-year-old brother, ran into the kitchen. “Can I help?”

   

 

  “No,” said Heidi firmly. “These cookies have to be made by ME.”

  “Then can I be your taste-tester?” asked Henry.

  “Ha! Are you kidding?” asked Heidi. “That would be like hiring the Cookie Monster.”

  Then Henry pretended to be the Cookie Monster.

  “Me want COO-kie! Munch! Munch! Chomp! Chomp!”

   

 

  Heidi rolled her eyes. Then she looked at the recipe. “Three cups of flour,” she said.

  Heidi lugged a tub of flour from the pantry and plopped it on the counter. Mom got the white sugar, brown sugar, and chocolate chunks. Heidi got two sticks of butter from the fridge. They laid out all the ingredients on the counter. Then Mom got the mixer, the measuring spoons, and the measuring cups.

   

 

  “Oh no,” said Heidi. “We’re out of eggs.”

   

 

  “That’s okay,” said Mom. “I’ll pick some eggs up on the way home from school tomorrow. If we make the cookies in the evening, they’ll be nice and fresh for the contest the next day.”

  “Good idea,” said Heidi.

  “So, what do you get if you win?” asked Henry.

  “You get to have your picture and your recipe published in the town newspaper,” said Heidi.

   

 

  “That’s it?” said Henry. “No cash prizes or giveaways?”

  “Well, there IS one giveaway,” said Heidi. “The winner can give away her brother for a year of free cookies.”

   

 

  “Ha-ha. Very funny,” said Henry. “But if you gave me away, you would probably miss me.”

  “Maybe a teeny bit,” said Heidi.

  Henry smiled. “Does that mean the taste-tester gets to have his picture in the paper too?”

  “Don’t push it, little dude,” said Heidi.

 

Editorial Reviews

A touch of magic changes boring cookies into something "special" in this early chapter book about cooking and following one's own heart. Heidi Heckelbeck excitedly enters her elementary-school cookie contest, wanting to share her family's Chocolate Chunk Cookies with her friends. Super-competitive Melanie Maplethorpe mocks her recipe, saying it's boring. Even when Heidi's best friend Lucy gives her excellent advice--"Stick with what you do best and you'll come out on top"--Heidi is unconvinced. She consults her hidden Book of Spells, gathers her ingredients, adds a special dash and waits for the spell to work. While the cookies look beautiful, the smell and taste are surprising--and not in a good way. When Lucy's plain cookie wins the competition, Heidi learns that Lucy's original advice was solid. With black line drawings reminiscent of the Jetsons on each page, this slim volume will speak to young readers who have been listening in on television cooking shows with their families. While the plot about magic and spells feels strangely out of place, the rest of this basic school and family story is easy to follow. A recipe for the winning cookies would have been a natural extension for hungry readers. While somewhat pedestrian fare, this easy-to-read series installment goes down easy enough. (Fiction. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews