Wizzo and the Cookie Babies

Christine Linge MacDonald is a Toronto-based freelance writer.

Here is a peculiar but charming fairy tale that combines wizardry,
creation myths, parental love, and baking. Wizzo the Wizard, who lies on
the moon, bears an uncanny resemblance to a full-bearded, white-haired
deity with whom we are all familiar (except that Wizzo wears sweats and
runners). One day, while his wife is away, Wizzo tries to make cookies
and accidentally cooks up 144 little people shapes. There are too many
to eat, so he decides to “magic” them alive because they are so
cute. Returning home to find Wizzo happily caring for dozens of charming
infants, Mrs. Wizzo instantly loves them too. Later she and Wizzo cook
up a bigger batch of new babies after the first ones grow up and leave
home.

When I was a girl, my father told me that our navels came about when
God poked each one of us gently in the tummy and said “You’re
done!” Calleja uses this image in her story when Wizzo declares each
batch of cookie babies “perfect,” despite the fact that each is
baked for a very different length of time, resulting in different skin
tones. This, and the unconditional love that Wizzo and his wife show for
their bountiful creations, add up to a creation tale that can be read as
an unassuming magic yarn.

The children to whom I read this story like Wizzo, and Wizzo likes
babies. On this basis, and because of the happy drawings and the unique
storyline, this book is recommended.