The Queen of Hearts [With Silver Heart-Shaped Cookie-Cutter Charm on a Chain]

I remember getting this for a birthday present on my fifth birthday, and absolutely loving it! Well, I found it in the basement the other day, and picked it up to see why I loved it so much."The Queen of Hearts" is basically about an unnamed little girl (referred to as The Little Girl), who promises her class her mother's wonderful tea hearts for the school party. But, the day before the party, her mom has to go away on a business trip, so the little girl and her father decide to make the cookies instead. Of course, the cookies turn out to be a big hit, and everyone loves them, but this is just such a nice story - you can't help but love it! The (what I believe to be) watercolor pictures aren't amazing, but fit the book very nicely - and I still have the heart-shaped necklace that came with the book!Overall grade: A

I felt sorry for the little girl who was afraid that if she baked cookies for her school party they would be yukky. I love to bake with my mom. We like to bake chocolate chip cookies and things for snacktime at kindergarten, but we also made the cookies like the little girl did in the book. They really were the best cookies! I like it when my mom reads with me and bakes with me. And the book had a necklace like a cookie cutter in it! I think I can make cookies as good as the girl in Queen of Hearts. Other girls will like this book too, but probably not boys.

For my 5-year-old who passionately wants to do things the right way and be the best at something, this book was a wonderful gift. She related to the little girl in the story, who wanted to bake as well as her mother did but was intimidated by her own inexperience and past failures. The story encourages readers to get help when they need it, but also to try hard things by themselves and never give up. Dads, as well as moms, will enjoy reading it with their daughters, because the little girl's father plays just as important a part as her mother does. My daughter remembers the point of the story whenever she puts on the necklace that came with it. Reading The Queen of Hearts made us want to put into practice what we had learned. We had to find the cookie recipe in a cookbook though, as it didn't come with the book. I would recommend this book as a gift for any little girl.