Grandma's Brown Cookies
Made with the Good Stuff
When Kyndle wakes up one morning with sore ears and fuzzy vision, his mom takes him straight to the doctor. Dr. Wizmagic is no ordinary physician, however, and she quickly brews a potion to put in Kyndle’s ears. The potion makes Kyndle’s ears super sensitive and when his mom takes him to the grocery store to buy the ingredients to make cookies as a special treat, Kyndle can hear the ingredients talking to him. By listening to the ingredients and asking his mother which ingredients are better for him, Kyndle is able to choose the healthiest ingredients for his cookie recipe.
Grandma’s Brown Cookies is a simple but entertaining story about making healthy food choices. The topic of healthy eating is certainly one that children need to learn about, and author Ramona Thomas Nickens has presented a story that is entirely accessible. For example, the author explains why wheat flour is better than bleached flour: “Kyndle asks, ‘What’s better Mom, wheat flour or bleached flour?’ His mother grabs both the wheat and bleached flour from the shelf. ‘Let’s look at the nutrition label.’ She suggests. ‘The wheat flour is higher in fiber and has more nutrients.’ She discovers.”
The illustrations by Tammy Artis are appealingly simple, too.
Nickens includes a recipe for Grandma’s Brown Cookies that has some slightly unusual ingredients, including unsulfured molasses and spelt flour. It is unfortunate that she chose not to describe these ingredients in the course of the story. Additionally, though she provides a glossary that includes words such as “concoction” and “pondering,” she does not define organic or whole grain, words which are included in the cookie recipe and could have used further explanation.
Grandma’s Brown Cookies is an entertaining book that will help parents introduce nutritional concepts to their children. Although the author could have provided more educational content, families will enjoy reading the book and trying the cookie recipe.
Reviewed by
Catherine Thureson
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
