Who Put the Cookies in the Cookie Jar?

“One hand in the cookie jar takes a cookie out./ How many hands put the cookie in is what the world’s about,” writes Shannon (Rabbit’s Gift) in this reminder that it takes a great many people to make what’s in the cookie jar possible. Getting to a delicious cookie means not only those who work in agriculture (farmers, wheat growers, sugar harvesters), but also metal workers who make the cookie sheet, truckers who move the ingredients, and retailers who “stock the shelves when things arrive.” Even the garment worker who sews the oven mitt gets a shoutout (although, curiously, the potter who makes the jar does not). Paschkis’s (Apple Cake) mural-like spreads, with their warm colors and characters who exemplify a rock-solid work ethic and optimistic outlook, bring to mind a WPA aesthetic, with a little Lois Lenski and Virginia Lee Burton for good measure. Shannon and Paschkis present a world that’s flat (in terms of markets and the movement of goods and services) but still friendly. Ages 3–6. Author’s agent: Mary Cummings, Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises. Illustrator’s agent: Linda Pratt, Wernick & Pratt. (Mar.)