Christopher sees interesting possibilities in the lump of red play clay he finds in the basement. He shapes it into a giant cookie, decorates it with sugar, icing, and raisins, and presents it to his mother as an edible treat made by Daddy. She says, “Yuck! Pwah! Splicht!” Pleased with Mommy’s reaction, Christopher moves on to his father, who is equally repelled by the nasty taste of the play clay cookie. Michael Martchenko’s vivid illustrations capture the expressions of the beleaguered parents and gleeful son with typical gusto.

Mmm, Cookies! follows hot on the heels of We Share Everything, released last season. The humorous, kid-driven antics and patterned language stamp this picture book with the familiar Munsch hallmark. However, Christopher is not the only one in the book with a scheme; the adults in this story manage a gentle kind of retaliation. Christopher’s teacher conspires to give him a taste of his own bad-tasting medicine before convening the class to bake edible cookies.

Munsch tales are never meant to be moral lessons advocating conventional childhood virtue. Just the same, parents or kindergarten teachers may want to use Mmm, Cookies! as a lighthearted lesson about the wisdom of keeping craft supplies in the hands and out of the mouth. A recipe for Mom’s Play Clay is featured at the beginning of the book. The reader half expects to find a recipe for the real cookies at the back of the book. Including such a recipe would have provided a fitting frame for the short text; kids would certainly enjoy trying to create their own version of “munchable Munsch.”