When Maurice takes the last chocolate chip cookie at the table and his mother tells him to offer it to everyone else first, he travels around the world and into space to fulfill that requirement
PreS-Gr 1--Polite sharing is taken to hilarious extremes when Maurice's mother insists he must offer the last chocolate cookie to "everyone else" before devouring it himself. The boy proceeds to carry it in his pocket for the next six weeks, offering it to family members, his teacher, and a wide assortment of other people until he decides to go into outer space. There, he meets a delightful green space monster that refuses the cookie but wants to eat him. However, the alien's mother intervenes, saying he must mind his manners and offer the human to "everyone else first." Emerging readers may have a few problems sounding out the names of the creatures Maurice encounters, but children listening to the story will respond with honest belly laughs. Clever cartoon illustrations extend the exaggerated humor. Every moment in this witty book is fun. Few stories provide so much entertainment with a message stirred in.
Jackie Hechtkopf, Talent House School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.