STEAM Stories: The Cookie Stall (Art)

What is often left out of STEM, which stands for Science Technology Engineering and Math, is Art. Art is treated as a poor stepchild, shoved off in the corner to make way for those important other sciences. But in this STEAM book, Art is just as important as the other sciences.

And to prove that, this story shows how art is important to running a cookie stand.

Sure, you need to bake the cookies, which is a science, but how do you get people interested in buying them.

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That is the tricky part and for that you need art. Every step along the way the two kids ask themselves, how can we get people more interested and reading our screens?

Marketing is the art being used in this case. Make the cookies look in inviting and enticing.

The kids realize, with the help of their teacher, that they need to present their cookies to make them appealing. That they must advertise, either by word of mouth, or through some sort of promotion.

Good book to get kids thinking about how to promote their business, even if it is small as a cookie stand..

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Is there anything worse than setting up a neighborhood stand and have no one buy anything? Max and Suzy wanted to earn some pocket money, but no one was buying their cookies. So first, they decided they needed to decorate them, but still no customers. Then Mr. Doodle, their art teacher, suggested they go into town and look at all the shops there while he watched their stand. Max and Suzy discovered that the stores used bright, colorful displays and advertising to find customers. So, that’s what they did too. With a fully decorated stand, the two quickly sold out of cookies.

Litton’s story was cute and Mansilla’s illustrations perfect for the story. The art lessons learned in the book will help preschool and Kindergarten students understand how to make different colors, and the lesson taught by Mr. Doodle, that art doesn’t have to be perfect, will serve all readers.

What a fun idea filled book! I think K-3rd graders will find this book very interesting. I love they way the children went in search of marketing ideas around the town. The illustrations were really neat! I bet they will look great once published! Great story!

This is a great story about two children running a cookie stand. I remember selling lemonade many times as a kid, and this would have been a great story to have read first.
Max and Suzy have baked some cookies they are trying to sell. At first they aren’t selling any. So they consider what could be missing in their stand. They check out how other places of business draw in customers. After some work on their cookies and a new design for their stand, they are ready to reopen.
This is a great story about art and how it attracts people.
Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley for this e-copy, in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.
www.Colecampfireblog.com
LanaLCole@yahoo.com

Suzy and Max decide to make and sell cookies to earn some pocket change, but their cookies aren’t selling that well. See how Suzy and Max problem solve how to sell their cookies better with a little help from their art teacher.

This is part of a series of books about problem solving using STEAM. This is the art book of the series. Suzy and Max exercise some good problem solving skills, including listening to an adult with experience and knowledge who can guide them. They have to overcome setbacks and reevaluate after their first solutions don’t work out as well as they hoped. There’s a little info on primary and secondary colors as well as very basic marketing strategies related to art. Recommended to early elementary art classes, little artists, and readers looking for characters who model good problem solving skills.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. I run a program called "Stories and STEAM" for 6-8 year olds and I am really excited to have come across this series of books and am hoping to order them for use with this program. It's a fun story that is easy to follow and doesn't seem too educational the way non fiction books might which can cause kids to lose interest (especially for a Friday afternoon program when kids are ready for the weekend after they've been in school all day)

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Very cute tale of two children who bake and then build a cookie stall.

I’m loving this STEAM series! There are so many lessons to be had and it inspires so much creativity!
The illustrations are wonderful as well!

This STEAM series entry is for the "A" in STEAM, art. The book will appeal to four to seven year olds.

Max and Suzy have baked cookies and would like to sell them but, alas, they have no customers. With the help of their art teacher, the two learn that they have to make their stall more visible and appealing. They discover that art will help them to do this.
Max and Suzy decorate with fine results. Along the way, they learn about primary colors and how to make secondary colors. They also find out that art doesn't have to be neat to be something to enjoy and take pride in.
There is an added learning section in the back of the book. It also includes some suggested websites.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for another book in an excellent series. The opinions are mine.

This STEAM story introduces different concepts of art, including drawing, design, and mixing colors through a story many children can relate to.

Suzy and Max are hoping to sell home-made cookies at a table outside their house. Unfortunately, they look on as people walk right past them. Suzy decides the cookies probably look a bit plain, so she and Max dash back into the house and make them look like stars and rockets. The cookies turn out just as they'd imagined. But still to one stops to make a purchase.

Not noticing the table, the art teacher proceeds to walk by when Max yells out and invites him to have a cookie. The teacher admits that he didn't even notice the table and suggests some great ideas to help them get noticed:
staging (he suggests they go look at storefronts)
paint a sign
The kids fix an elevated plate to showcase the cookies. Then, while they are painting the sign their teacher helps them turn some accidental splatters into creative splashes of color. They also learn to blend colors to come up with those they don't have.

So now the cookies are bright and fun shapes, they are on a decorative display and there is a sign indicating that they are selling cookies. But will that be enough?

My Thoughts

What Concerned Me: Though this is a small concern, the story and illustrations feel a bit flat.

What I Liked Most: I did like that even in a small way it illustrates how art can make a difference. I think parents and teachers will probably be happy to see the last part of the book has a section titled The Art Behind The Story. This offers some questions regarding the key points of the story and also invites children to share their thoughts.

This is a cute, informative story with useful dialogue. The two children work on identifying problems, observing, and strategizing, which are good skills that help children learn to problem solve.
This story has simple, clean, child friendly illustrations that are colorful and detailed but not so intricate as to be overwhelming.

This also talks about some basic STEM/STEAM concepts, including how to mix primary colors to get secondary colors, which would make this a good storytime book for pairing with a color mixing activity (basic STEM concepts, which are great for early learners).

There’s no humor or surprise with this story, but that’s not really the purpose. This would be a great story for talking through the steps of a process, making predictions, learning how to make decisions, and you could probably even argue for a message about perseverance. That makes this a very useful story for a classroom or storytime setting, though it might not be the kind of story you would read over and over and over again with your child at night.

You don’t find many books about art, and this one was one I cannot wait to add to my classroom bookshelf!
This story is about Suzy and Max, who have decided to run a cookie stand! Their teacher, Mr. Doodle helps them discover ways to attract customers. This book touches on not only business but also the art behind business. Using different colors to attract customers, as well as how to mix colors to create different colors.
The illustrations are fabulous and match the text perfectly. I love the end of the book when they have prompts prompting the reader “your turn”! Fun activities for kids of all ages.

STEAM Stories: The Cookie Stall (ART)
By Jonathan Litton and Magali Mansilla
This book follows two entrepreneurs as they try to run a cookie stall. They are excited to sell cookies but they are not selling any. What could be wrong? The two work together and seek help. Following advice, they use their creative talents to alter the way their cookies look, how they are displayed and how they advertise.
I enjoyed how flexible the kids were as they worked together. I appreciated that they asked for help and considered the advice as they were problem-solving. It demonstrated maturity in problem-solving for young minds. The back of the book provides questions for further discussion as well which is helpful.
I was given the privilege to read this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review which is stated here.

I am a fan of this series, but I find this book lacking in comparison to the others. The story is similar in scope, the kids have a problem to solve, and they must use a STEAM concept to solve it. In this case it’s art. The kids are trying to sell cookies, but have no customers. Their art teacher sends them to stores to figure out why and then the kids get to work decorating and creating to get more sales. I guess the reason why this story bugs me is that, it takes more than art for sales. This story really covers marketing, but not the sales pitch portion. I think a different story line to cover art should have been used.