Product Description

Beauty Cookson is no beauty. She's a plain, timid girl surrounded by super-confident, snooty girls at school. Worse than the teasing in the playground, though, is the unpredictable criticism from her father. Frequently berated for breaking any of Dad's hyper-fussy house rules, as well as for her lack of looks, confidence and friends, Beauty lives in uneasy fear whenever Dad's at home. Her pretty, sweet mum is equally subject to Dad's tirades. Eventually, after an unbearable birthday party and a very real fear that Dad's temper is out of control, Mum and Beauty run away. Very soon Mum and Beauty find themselves in an idyllic seaside resort where their new-found freedom and a moment of culinary inspiration give them a hobby, an income and even a new nickname for Beauty. Soon all Beauty's dreams come true - and she deserves it! This is a charming, page-turning and heart-warming story from this beloved author.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4900 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 309 pages

From the Back Cover
Beauty Cookson is really not very beautiful. She's plain and timid, and all the girls at school are super-confident and snooty. They think her name is ridiculous and have come up with a new one for her - Ugly!

Worse than the teasing in the play-ground, though, is the hurtful criticism from her father. Beauty and her young, pretty mum live in fear of Dad's rages - sparked off when they break one of his fussy house rules, suggest somthing 'silly' like getting a pet, or if Beauty refuses to wear an outfit he's bought her. But Beauty's mum adores her and finds ways to keep Beauty happy despite all the shouting. Together they discover a new hobby - baking cookies - and a much better nickname is born.

After Beauty's disasterous birthday party, Dad's temper seems to be out of control. Can Mum and Beauty bear it any longer? Or can they find a way to start a sweet new life?

A charming, page-turning and heart-warming story from the beloved, bestselling Jaqueline Wilson.

About the Author
JACQUELINE WILSON is an extremely well-known and hugely popular author. THE ILLUSTRATED MUM was chosen as British Children's Book of the Year in 1999 and was winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Award 2000. Jacqueline has won the prestigious Smarties Prize and the Children's Book Award for DOUBLE ACT, which was also highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. Jacqueline was awarded an OBE in 2002, was the Children's Laureate for 2005-2007 and was made a Dame in 2008.

Customer Reviews

This book is great!
I'm a ten year old girl reading Jacqueline Wilson's books. She is my favourite author and I've read nearly all her books. This book can be very emotional at times and be very funny too! I'd recommend this book for people 8+. This is my favourite Jacqueline Wilson book and I can't wait for her next one. I couldn't put it down! Its one of those books you get addicted to. If you like Cookie then I'd recommend My Sister Jodie and Candyfloss. So if I were you I'd get it!!

Disappointing and disjointed
Jacqueline Wilson's stories deal with some very sensitive topics and they're fun to read, too, which is why I read 'Cookie' within a few days of its publication. As a teacher, I was hoping to use it as the basis for a classroom discussion with a group of Year 6s on some of the issues that the book brings up.

In the end I couldn't use it. The book seems to be aimed at much younger children, and the story doesn't fit together properly. When Beauty Cookson's mum realises that Beauty is being bullied over her appearance by her classmates, as well as by her vicious dad, she decides that she will teach Beauty how to bake cookies so that she can share them at school and subtly persuade the bullies to give her a new nickname - Cookie instead of Ugly. This just isn't realistic. Beauty's own method of comforting herself is even less so - she religiously watches a toddlers' programme about a man and his rabbit, and imagines them saying kind things to her. Her conversations with the television are represented as a real dialogue. When Beauty begins to panic about her looks, Sam says to her, "We think you look stunning in your dress and pinafore and special boots." When she complains to him about her name, he 'says' back, "I think Beauty's the most special name in all the world."

A child with low self-esteem just would not imagine those things, as one of the problems that come with low self-esteem is an inability to believe that anyone sees you in a positive light. The story takes a few more bizarre twists and turns - Beauty finally makes a friend, who vanishes halfway through the book and doesn't reappear; she and her mum run away to live in a little guest house by the beach, and the bullying dad is tidily sorted out of the picture; and Beauty's cookie-baking becomes famous so that she gets to go on TV with her hero Sam and his rabbit Lily.

None of it fits together. I read the novel in one sitting and felt very confused by the muddled plot and the unrealistic scenarios that kept cropping up. I can't recommend this one.

P.S. Have any other readers noticed how often Jacqueline Wilson employs the word 'special'? It seems to be her favourite adjective. This is only a minor thing, but it started to grate on me in 'Cookie'.

One of the best books Jacqueline Wilson has written
This book and Double Act are my two favourite books and are both by Jacqueline Wilson. I am a big fan of Jacqueline Wilson and she has good ideas especially for this book. I enjoyed it a lot and my mouth watered thinking about the cookies.