Cooler Than Lemonade is a sweet story about perseverance. Eva, like most children, wants to set up a lemonade stand, but discovers some struggles along the way. With the encouragement of her little brother, she comes up with a new business plan and find that, in the end, collaboration is better than competition. I loved the illustrations and various fonts used to emphasize certain words. I know my daughter would also love to try out the recipe at the end of the book. 😊

Eva has a great idea on a hot summer day. She opens a lemonade stand! Everything is going great until her neighbor across the street also opens up a lemonade stand. Even worse, he is giving away free cookies. Not to be one upped by Jake, Eva 's overly competitive nature kicks in and she adds new flavors of lemonade to draw in customers. But Jake also has other ideas and slowly they escalate the lemonade stand war. Eventually they both run out of ideas and there are no more customers to serve. Eva discovers that sometimes the best ideas come from the heart rather than from greed. Using a traditional family recipe for a special ethnic dessert. Eva learns that success comes in all forms and it isn't about who has the biggest, the best or the most, but that success comes from sharing your passions with the world.

There were great themes about competition, the pitfalls of greed and capitalism and how collaboration can make everyone happy and successful.

This story was both entertaining and educational, which can be a tricky balance to maintain in a children’s book, and I will be suggesting it to teachers whenever possible. Incorporating social-emotional skills and topics such as this into children's picture books is a tried and true way to teach an important life skill in a way that is fun. This would be an amazing addition for classroom libraries, counselling offices and more.

Capitalism for the children. Bright colors, cute illustrations. A premise that I struggle with, personally. She gave up really soon and I'm glad they were friends at the end. Really want ice cream now. Her thinking cap was my fav. Made me giggle. There are ways to show kids thinking critically and creatively without falling to hustle culture.

Cooler Than Lemonade tells the story of Eva, a young girl who is inspired to start a lemonade stand only to be driven into an increasingly frenetic advertising campaign when a boy across the street starts his own lemonade stand. Through reflection, brainstorming, and perseverance, Eva eventually discovers something she has to offer at her stand that is unique and personal-- her family's Kulfi (an Indian dessert similar to ice cream) recipe. I really enjoyed this book, which has a gorgeous art style and an engrossing story. I also appreciated a story that features competition but resolves via collaboration.

This book is so fun! Any kid who dreams a lemonade stand will love reading about the challenges and changes Eva makes to be a success!