Cookie (novel) facts for kids
"Cookie" official book cover designed by Nick Sharratt
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| Author | Jacqueline Wilson |
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| Illustrator | Nick Sharratt |
| Cover artist | Nick Sharratt |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
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Publication date
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October 9, 2008 (hardcover) July 2, 2009 (paperback) |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 320pp |
| Preceded by | My Sister Jodie |
| Followed by | Tracy Beaker's Thumping Heart (Red Nose Day 2009 Fundraiser) |
Cookie is a children's novel written by the popular English author Jacqueline Wilson. It was first published in October 2008 by Doubleday. Like many of her books, it features illustrations by Nick Sharratt. The story explores themes of family, friendship, and finding your confidence.
Contents
Story of "Cookie"
The book tells the story of Beauty Cookson. Despite her lovely name, Beauty is a quiet and shy girl. At school, other kids, especially a bully named Skye, often tease her. But the teasing at home from her father, Gerry Cookson, is even harder. He often criticizes her for breaking his rules or for not being confident enough. Even though they live in a big, beautiful house and she goes to a private school, Beauty feels unhappy.
Her mother, Dilly Cookson, is the only one who is kind to her at home. Beauty absolutely loves rabbits, but her father won't let her have any pets. Her favorite TV show is "Rabbit Hutch," which is about a man named Sam and his pet rabbit, Lily.
Beauty's School Life
Beauty doesn't have any friends at school. The only student who is nice to her is Rhona, who is Skye's best friend. One day, when Skye is away, Rhona tells Beauty that she really wants to be her friend. Finally, Beauty gets an invitation to Rhona's birthday party!
For the party, Beauty's father makes her get tight, curly hair. This leads to new teasing from Skye and her friends, who call her "Ugly Corkscrew."
The Cookie Plan
Beauty tells her mother about the teasing. Dilly decides to try baking cookies, even though she's not a good cook. She hopes that if Beauty brings cookies to school, she might get a new, nicer nickname like "Cookie," which is also a play on her last name, Cookson.
Slowly, both Beauty and Dilly get better at baking. They become amazing at making delicious cookies! However, Gerry refuses to believe Dilly can cook well and doubts them completely.
Beauty's Birthday
Beauty's own birthday is coming up, and she's not looking forward to it. But then, her father Gerry seems to change. He acts like a perfect dad. He plans a big birthday meal and arranges tickets for all the girls in her class to see a show called 'Birthday Bonanza'. A limousine is even arranged to take them there.
Beauty's mother buys her a beautiful Victorian-style dress. Beauty invites all the girls, including Skye. Dilly plans to give out cookies at the end of the party. But Gerry spitefully crushes all the cookies into crumbs. Rhona gives Beauty a pet rabbit, which she names 'Birthday'.
The party turns sad when Beauty is too shy to go on stage at the show. Gerry shouts at her in the limousine after everyone else leaves.
A New Beginning
Things get even worse when Dilly and Beauty discover that Birthday, the rabbit, has been killed by a fox. Gerry had deliberately let him out of his hutch. This is the final straw for Dilly. She decides to separate from Gerry. She and Beauty pack their bags and leave the house.
They drive to Gerry's first wife, Avril, who is kind to them. Avril lets them stay for the night. Then, Dilly and Beauty decide to go on holiday. Beauty chooses a place called Rabbit Cove because of her love for rabbits. They find a lovely seaside resort run by a kind older man named Mike. Mike is a painter, and he hires Dilly as a breakfast chef in his B&B.
New School, New Friends
Just before summer, Beauty starts a new school. At first, she doesn't want to go, but she eventually agrees. At her new school, she makes friends and is even nicknamed "the Cookie Girl." She still keeps in touch with Rhona by writing letters.
Because her mother's cookies are so popular, Beauty is asked to appear on 'Watchbox', a talent show that Skye really wanted to be on. As a special treat, the show's producers invite Sam from "Rabbit Hutch." Sam tells Beauty that his rabbit, Lily, is pregnant. He promises to give Beauty one of Lily's baby rabbits!
Main Characters
- Beauty Cookson: The main character of the story. She is a quiet and sweet girl who loves rabbits and the TV show "Rabbit Hutch."
- Dilly Cookson: Beauty's caring mother. She tries her best to look after Beauty and eventually finds the courage to stand up for herself and her daughter.
- Gerry Cookson: Beauty's strict and cruel father. He often criticizes Beauty and makes her feel bad.
- Rhona: A classmate who is nice to Beauty. She is Skye's best friend but wishes she could be closer to Beauty.
- Skye: A rude girl in Beauty's class who enjoys bullying Beauty and calling her mean names.
- Mike: A kind painter who owns a B&B House at Rabbit Cove. He helps Beauty and Dilly when they need a place to stay and work.
- Avril: Gerry's first ex-wife, who offers help to Dilly and Beauty.
Audiobook
An audiobook version of "Cookie" was released by BBC in the same month as the novel. It was read by Finty Williams.
