Heidi Heckelbeck 3 – Heidi Heckelbeck and the Cookie Contest

Heidi Heckelbeck and the Cookie Contest by Wanda Coven is a school story for 6 year olds about a girl who talks herself out of the recipe she's best at.

What happens

Heidi has signed up for the cookie contest at school. She's only ever won a raffle before, and that just meant putting her name in a box. This time she really wants to WIN.

She goes for chocolate chunk, because the family recipe is famous and it's her favourite anyway. Her little brother Henry volunteers as taste-tester and is refused, on the grounds that it would be like hiring the Cookie Monster.

Then she gets to school and hears what everyone else is entering. Toasted s'mores cookies. Pumpkin whoopie pies with cream cheese filling. Mega Mint, with crushed peppermints through them.

And Melanie Maplethorpe, who is Heidi's sworn enemy, is doing cinnamon swirl with toffee bits and had to SPECIAL ORDER her ingredients.

All of a sudden chocolate chunk sounds very plain indeed.

Any child who has ever turned up at school with the wrong thing in their bag will feel this one in their tummy. Heidi hasn't stopped believing in her cookies exactly. She just cannot stand the idea of Melanie being right about them.

So she raids the pantry. Pretzels, mini marshmallows, jelly beans, a box of old candy canes and some Peanut Butter Crunch cereal, all piled up next to the proper ingredients. You can see exactly where this is heading, and it's great fun watching her get there.

The best voice in the whole thing is Henry's. He asks the one sensible question nobody else asks, which is whether Melanie's cookies actually taste nice. Heidi doesn't know. She's never had one. He keeps asking and she keeps not answering.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

This is the third book in a long series, and it takes for granted that you already know Heidi is a witch. Your reader won't be lost, because the cover says so, but they are walking in partway through.

It's also very American. Cookies rather than biscuits, Brewster Elementary rather than a primary school, and a good few sweets you won't find in the shops here. Most children take that in their stride and rather enjoy it.

Your reader may know the feeling of going quiet the minute somebody louder calls their thing boring. Heidi is good company for it. Her friend Lucy tells her to stick with what she does best. Heidi nods and then ignores her entirely, which is honestly what most of us would do.

What to read next

Heidi Heckelbeck in Disguise is the next one and it's in the library as well. It's Halloween in Brewster and Heidi is thoroughly fed up about it, because she can't bear people dressing up as witches when she happens to be one. Henry is going as a pirate and pirates, he says, do not share their booty.