The Smart Cookie (B&N Exclusive Edition)

by Jory John, Pete Oswald (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Jory John and Pete Oswald are back with another delicious delight in their Food Group series. The Smart Cookie is one of the more relatable tales for the modern child and a perfect introduction into the bestselling Food Group series, if you aren’t familiar. Touching on social anxiety, self-doubt and the importance of community support, John and Oswald have once again concocted the perfect recipe for story time success!

Be a smart cookie—and don't miss this Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition of The Smart Cookie, the fifth picture book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Food Group series written by Jory John and illustrated by Pete Oswald! Featuring a special jacket cover and poster, this hardcover picture book is perfect for story time!

This cookie has never felt like a smart cookie no matter how hard she tries, especially in comparison to all the clever cupcakes and brilliant rolls in the bakery. Will a dash of creativity and a sprinkle of confidence be enough to help her learn that perfect scores and having all the answers aren't the only ingredients for intelligence?

Jory John and Pete Oswald serve up another heaping plate of laughs and lessons with this empowering, witty, and charming addition to their #1 New York Times bestselling series!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063444010
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	07/15/2025
Series:	Food Group Series
Edition description:	B&N Exclusive Edition
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD440L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jory John is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and two-time E. B. White Read Aloud Honor recipient. Jory’s work includes the award-winning Goodnight Already! series; the bestselling Food Group series, including The Bad Seed, The Good Egg, and more; the national bestseller All My Friends Are Dead; and many more popular picture books. You can visit him online at joryjohn.com.

Pete Oswald is an LA-based artist, kid lit author/illustrator, and production designer. Pete is the illustrator of the Food Group series by Jory John and the Cranky series by Phuc Tran as well as many other picture books. When Pete is not working on books, he is helping to uplift many of the most successful animated franchises, as a character designer, concept artist, and production designer. Pete lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife and two sons.

Editorial Reviews

A sustaining picture book from the Food Group series.

Booklist

A sustaining picture book from the Food Group series.

Booklist

[T]he hilarious Food Group series continues to provide plenty of belly laughs (thanks to puns galore!) and mini buns of wisdom in a wholly effervescent package...[A]n an excellent addition to the menu. A deliciously sweet reminder to try one’s unique best. — Kirkus Reviews

A sustaining picture book from the Food Group series. — Booklist

One for the shelves on cooking or self-esteem, this dishes up a nutritious message, liberally sprinkled with puns, metaphors, and double entendres. — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

10/08/2021

Gr 1–2—Wordplay spices up this latest entry in the creators' "food group" picture book series, as a once shy sugar cookie describes how they got over feeling lost at sea in class with some help from a savvy schoolteacher. It all starts with a chewy homework assignment from Ms. Biscotti to "create something completely original." A few half-baked efforts later—like a sculptured selfie that winds up "a complete bust!"—sweet success arrives in the form of a confessional poem titled "My Crumby Days" that earns the sugar cookie praise from all listeners. As frosting on the cake, cookie also gets the self-confidence to keep writing, to try new things, and to accept the occasional failure. Oswald surrounds the big-eyed biscuit with a diverse and similarly nongendered cast of smiling baked goods, all busily involved in play, projects, and like means of finding their own recipes for success. "There's always more to learn!" the triumphant treat concludes. "Because we're all smart cookies." VERDICT One for the shelves on cooking or self-esteem, this dishes up a nutritious message, liberally sprinkled with puns, metaphors, and double entendres.—John Peters, Children's Literature Consultant, NY

School Library Journal

2021-09-24
This smart cookie wasn’t alwaysa smart cookie.

At the corner of Sweet Street stands a bakery, which a whole range of buns and cakes and treats calls home, including a small cookie who “didn’t feel comfortable speaking up or sharing” any ideas once upon a time. During the early days of gingerbread school, this cookie (with sprinkles on its top half, above its wide eyes and tiny, smiling mouth) never got the best grades, didn’t raise a hand to answer questions, and almost always finished most tests last, despite all best efforts. As a result, the cookie would worry away the nights inside of a cookie jar. Then one day, kind Ms. Biscotti assigns some homework that asks everyone “to create something completely original.” What to do? The cookie’s first attempts (baking, building a birdhouse, sculpting) fail, but an idea strikes soon enough. “A poem!” Titling its opus “My Crumby Days,” the budding cookie poet writes and writes until done. “AHA!” When the time arrives to share the poem with the class, this cookie learns that there’s more than one way to be smart. John and Oswald’s latest installment in the hilarious Food Group series continues to provide plenty of belly laughs (thanks to puns galore!) and mini buns of wisdom in a wholly effervescent package. Oswald’s artwork retains its playful, colorful creative streak. Although slightly less effective than its predecessors due to its rather broad message, this one’s nonetheless an excellent addition to the menu.(This book was reviewed digitally.)

A deliciously sweet reminder to try one’s unique best. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews