The Cupcake Thief

by Ellen Jackson, Blanche Sims (Illustrator)

The popular Social Studies Connects series links history, geography, civics and economics to kids’ daily lives. Featuring stories with diverse characters who face situations young readers can relate to, these books support reading and social studies skills including researching, inferring, comparing, and communication. An activity to stimulate curiosity about the world is included in each book!

Zack's cupcake went missing, and someone ate the evidence. Is Tyler innocent--or guilty? Only the Student Court can decide! (Social Studies Civics/Justice System)

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2007

Reviews

[Jenna Renner]

I thought this book was a cute book. It is about a boy Zack who had a cupcake and the cupcake went missing. Some people think that Tyler took his cupcake and ate the evidence. They set up a court room inside their classroom to decide if Tyler was innocent or guilty. This is a fun way to teach the students about government and politics. After reading this book with your class teachers could set up a "mock case" and let students play different roles in the court room and decide whether someone is innocent or guilty. I think this would be a very fun way to teach students about the court system and it would keep students interested and they would be learning and having fun at the same time.

[Stephanie Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Explains how courts work in a relatable way for kids.

[LizthePrude · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fictitious story kids would enjoy, but also teaching about the justice system.

[Kristen Sewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explains to children how out country's court system works. It could be hard for some children to follow, but it definitely gives them and idea on how it operates. In the story they make the class room into a court room and a trial is held where the children get to decide if Tyler really took Zach's cupcakes! So, it's a good mystery/solving book. It explains the meaning of guilty and not guilty. This book is cute and it helps readers learn at the same time about things they probably haven't heard about yet.

[Kayla Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children can start reading this book at age 9. The book was about a boy accused of stealing another boys cupcake. They had to go to a little courtroom and find out who was guilty. Children can learn all about government, politics, and the jury. This will get children to have opinions about certain topics, and engage in conversation with their peers. I think it is great that their are books available like this one to teach children about the world at an early age.

[Jessica Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book shows children simply how the court system works. They make the class room into a court room and carry on a trial where the children decide if Tyler really took Zach's cupcakes! This fun filled story book carries on a life of its own when these children are learning about how the court room really works and if a person is found guilty or not guilty. A cute book for young readers to enjoy while learning at the same time!

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really cute. It was about how a classroom has a trial to find out if someone stole a cupcake. This would be a great book to teach children about the court systems and how a trial works. I had fun reading this book and I would greatly recommend it to someone trying to teach young children about guilty v.s innocent.

[Anthony Kline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very good to introduce children to our legal system. Children will not understand the government system if explained in a mature way so I think this book helped do that. The pictures were very nice in my opinion.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be a great book to read to a class going over a government chapter with how the classes student senate has a trial over the missing cupcake. It could show how a mock trial could be a fun activity.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was so cute. What I thought of it was that there was a cupcake thief and there really was a cupcake thief. I Truly did not understand how this book was in social studies.