How the Cookie Crumbled: The True (and Not-So-True) Stories of the Invention of the Chocolate Chip Cookie

by Gilbert Ford, Gilbert Ford (Illustrator)

Overview

In this unique and clever picture book, Gilbert Ford sheds a little light on everyone’s favorite sweet treat—the chocolate chip cookie—and reminds readers everywhere that just because a story is told doesn’t mean it’s true.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
Mmmmm!

Everyone loves chocolate chip cookies! But not everyone knows where they came from. Meet Ruth Wakefield, the talented chef and entrepreneur who started a restaurant, wrote a cookbook, and invented this delicious dessert. But just how did she do it, you ask? That’s where things get messy!

So sit back and grab a cookie to read a story—or three—about how this round, crispy, chocolatey piece of perfection came to be. Which tale is true? Well, what do you think?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481450683
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	10/24/2017
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Lexile:	900L (what's this?)
File size:	83 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Gilbert Ford holds a BFA in illustration from Pratt Institute and an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. He is the author and illustrator of The Marvelous Thing That Came from a Spring, named a Best STEM Book of 2017, and has illustrated many middle grade jackets, as well as the award-winning picture book Mr. Ferris and His Wheel. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Visit him online at GilbertFord.com.

Editorial Reviews

10/09/2017
Ford moves from the history of the Slinky (in The Marvelous Thing That Came from a Spring) to that of another American classic: the chocolate chip cookie, invented by restaurateur Ruth Wakefield. With her Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie a hit, Wakefield sold the recipe to Nestlé, and it remains on chocolate chip bags to this day. Using traditional and digital media, Ford paints a cheery vision of Depression-era America, highlighting Wakefield’s persistence and exacting nature (“Ruth’s staff said she was one tough cookie to work for”). He also taps into the visual language of vintage comics to present three ways Wakefield’s discovery might have come about: as an accident, substitution, or moment of inspiration. Ford casts his vote for the third option; readers will cast theirs for baking cookies from the recipe that’s included. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"The mixed-media illustrations align perfectly with the breezy, pun-filled text, aptly integrating period details, expressive facial expressions, and lots of happy crunching. This will be an enjoyable choice for one-on-one or group storytimes—just be sure to have some chocolate chip cookies handy!"

September 2017 Booklist

2017-07-17
A chocolate candy bar cannonballing into a possessed mixer. Baking chocolate suddenly going AWOL. These are just a couple of the persistent myths orbiting the origins of America's quintessential dessert: the chocolate chip cookie. Thanks to Ford's kid-friendly exposé, Ruth Wakefield's smarts and business savvy are revealed to be the true sources of the cookie's invention. Not only was Wakefield the chef for the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts, she also managed the restaurant. Daring to start a business with her husband just as the Great Depression hit, Wakefield's dedication to quality paid off. In 1938, wanting to change up her popular butterscotch cookie, Wakefield added bits of a Nestle's chocolate bar to the dough and—voilà! From kitchens across the country to the care packages sent to homesick World War II soldiers, the chocolate chip cookie was soon everywhere. In fact, Nestle created the chocolate chip specifically for Wakefield's recipe. Ford's illustrations successfully evoke the 1930s and '40s, down to the comic-strip half-tone dot effect of the different cookie-genesis scenarios. However, Ford misses the opportunity to depict among the diners the famous personages mentioned in his author's note, and his pictorial rendition of the cookie queen is strangely unsympathetic—staff grimace behind her back as she critically frowns at their work. Quibbles aside, pastry chefs in the making will be fascinated by this accessible tribute to a true American icon and will be tempted to try the appended cookie recipe. (Picture book/biography. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews