Clara Ann Cookie

by Harriet Ziefert, Emily Bolam (Illustrations)

"When Clara Ann Cookie had to get dressed, she got grumpy and grouchy and very distressed." Getting dressed in the morning is simply too much for Clara Ann to face. Lucky for her she has a resourceful mother who comes up with a clever face-making game to help make the morning routine a lot less monotonous and considerably more fun. Harriet Ziefert portrays this all too common struggle between parent and child with wit and humor, while Emily Bolam's artwork captures Clara Ann's emotions perfectly. Children will delight in making faces along with Clara Ann as she gets dressed.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Harriet Ziefert grew up in North Bergen, New Jersey, where she attended the local schools. She graduated from Smith College, then received a Masters degree in Education from New York University.

For many years, Ziefert was an elementary school teacher. She taught most grades from kindergarten to fifth grade. "I liked it," she said, but she stopped teaching when she had her own sons. When her children were older, Ziefert wanted "a bigger arena" for her work. She went to work at a publishing company, Scholastic in New York City, developing materials for teacher's guides for kindergarten language arts and social studies programs.

"About twelve years ago," says Ziefert in a 1995 interview, "I tried to get a job as an editor, but no one would hire me as a trade editor. So I decided to write my own books." Since then, she has written several hundred books, mostly picture books and easy-to-read books. "I write books very quickly," she says, "in about twelve hours. I rewrite them three times over three days, and then they're done." She writes about twenty books a year.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rhyming picture book about a little girl who usually wakes up grumpy and refuses to get dressed. This is a topic that many young children can identify with and they appreciate the mother's creative solution. Young listeners especially enjoy playing along and making all the crazy faces.

[Shelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clara Ann Cookie's mom comes up with a clever way to distract her daughter from complaining while getting dressed. Silly book to share with young readers. Be sure to ask them to make the same faces that Clara Ann is making on each page.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

-pre-kindergarten-kindergarten students
-have students raise their hand and say rhyming words that they heard on that page.

[Kaitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

this teaches the lesson that you shouldn't be so stubborn and angry because things aren't really as bad as they seem