Now we have shared about Ruth Wakefield and her "invention" of the chocolate chip cookies. Today we are going to share Kathleen King's story using a picture book she wrote herself!! Do you know who Kathleen King is? I will admit I didn't. She is the founder of the famous Tate's Bake Shop and she shares her story in Cookie Queen: How One Girl Started Tate's Back Shop by Kathleen King and Lowey Bundy Sichol and illustrated by Ramona Kaulitzki. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.
From the Publisher:
Perfect for dessert lovers and budding bakers, this is the true story of a girl who followed her dream to make the perfect chocolate-chip cookie--and, one day, founded world-renowned TATE'S BAKE SHOP®. Original cookie recipe included!Eleven-year-old Kathleen King was positively obsessed with baking the perfect chocolate chip cookie. She experimented over and over and over with different recipes--less flour, more butter, longer baking time--until she got it just right.
Customers flocked to her family's farm stand on Long Island for Kathleen's enormous, buttery chocolate chip cookies. And when she grew up, Kathleen started a cookie company called TATE'S BAKE SHOP®. TATE'S grew into a multi-million-dollar empire and, today, they are a household name and their cookies are sold all over the country!
Cookie Queen is the delicious true story of how a little girl's dream turned into an enormous cookie empire.
From Me:
I love how this book tells about Kathleen's childhood. She began selling her cookies at her family's farm stand so she could have money to buy her back to school supplies including clothes. The story shares how she experimented with the recipe to create the cookies she loved. It has all sorts of information that kids need to realize. Things are not perfect the first time very often and it takes work and trial and error to perfect them. This book demonstrates that. Plus, it shares a recipe for cookies with the reader at the end of the book. I haven't tried it yet myself, but plan on it.
I know it would be hard for the kids around me to imagine having to get up before dawn to bake cookies to have money to buy clothes. I love that this story shares Kathleen's determination and desire. It has so many positive lessons like perseverance and hard work as well as becoming independent. The illustrations themselves are wonderful. They share colorful details of Kathleen's younger self's life.
Whether for back to school, Women's History Month or just a book about cookies, this book is the perfect addition to everyone's library at home, school or public library. I hope you will check it out and then try baking the cookies.
