Grandmother's Cookie

In this Storybook Special, a fearful-looking cookie jar in Grandmother's kitchen inspires many story-telling sessions between the old woman and her grandchild. Each time a cookie is taken from the jar, she tells a story of the day when Indians lived under the starry skies. But when Grandmother dies, the child stays away from the jar, still afraid of it. Then Grandfather explains that now it is the child's turn to take the cookie jar and, when grown, to offer to others a cookie ""dusted with Grandmother's love'' and a story. Potter uses a desert palette of rosy pinks and sandy beiges to relate this quiet tale of enduring love. Miller writes lyrically, capturing in few sentences the ways in which an object feared can be transformed into an object cherished. Ages 6-9. (December)