Oh, I have such a fun book to recommend today! Ben Yokoyama and the Cookie War, written by Matthew Swanson and illustrated by Robbi Behr, is a GEM. It is funny, clever, and timely with the big ideas we need right now: kindness, civility, listening, elections, different viewpoints, and the ways we grow and learn.
The book, 6th in the Cookie Chronicles, follows two besties: Ben and Janet. As they dislike the platform of a fellow student, they both decide to run for class president. As you can imagine, there will be a LOT that unfolds before the election is decided. A friendship hangs in the balance. Kindness is key. The grownups are great advisors. And just wait until you see the ending. It’s GENIUS.
The story is funny, and is a full array of goodness: clever writing, and clear, evocative illustrations. I felt as if I was back in school, and along for the ride of ALL the drama and excitement and fun and growth of these ages.
Highly, highly recommend!
We were lucky enough to chat with Matthew and Robbi, and ask them about the book, the Cookie Chronicles, illustrations, and more. Here’s what they had to say…
Please tell us about your new book Ben Yokoyama and the Cookie War.
Matthew: Robbi just pointed at me, probably because I wrote this book. But I want to hear what she thinks about it.
Robbi: Okay, fine…The Cookie War. This one is about…Ben and Janet?
M: Here’s the thing. I don’t think Robbi actually reads these books before she illustrates them. They’re all about Ben and Janet!
R: I read them! I just don’t always remember them later. Matthew writes so many books. It’s hard to keep them all straight. Let’s see… In The Cookie War, Ben and Janet are running for student council…and…they find themselves at odds with each other?
M: This is a true but incomplete book trailer.
R: Okay, Mr. Author who wrote all the words. Why don’t you tell me what this book is about?
M: Uhm…
R: You don’t know either!
M: I do! I do. This is a book about two best friends who both want to make the world better, but in so doing get swept into the shenanigans and pitfalls of the political system.
R: I object!
M: I knew you would.
R: It’s not about two kids who want to make the world better. It’s about two kids who want chocolate milk in the cafeteria. And five extra minutes at recess.
M: They want someone to put a lock on the haunted mop closet.
R: Exactly. They’re interested in making their school better, not necessarily the world.
M: When you’re in 4th grade, your school is a pretty big part of your world, so maybe we’re both right?
What led you both to creating this incredible series together?
M: I first wrote The Cookie Chronicles to be a words-only series, but then Robbi read it and demanded to illustrate it. This was a forced collaboration.
R: I won’t deny it.
M: But I’m glad she did, because it turns out that this is a series about Robbi and me. Just like Ben, I was constantly confused by figurative language as a kid. Just like Janet, Robbi is fierce and strong-willed and sometimes forgets to brush her hair. Janet adds color and context to Ben’s black-and-white world, which helps them solve problems they probably couldn’t solve on their own. This is what Robbi and I do for each other pretty much every day. Does that sound about right?
R: I mean, yes. All that was true. But Cookie Chronicles is a fun series about fourth graders. It’s not about us.
M: All fiction is autobiographical.
R: I just don’t want to give the impression that these are books about two middle-aged people.
M: Okay. How about this: The Cookie Chronicles is about a kid who gets confused by fortune cookie fortunes and his boisterous, big-hearted friend who helps him figure out what they mean. And how they use that wisdom to work through the challenges of elementary school.
R: That sounds right. But did we answer the question?
M: What led us to making this series together? Basically, Robbi held me down and told me she was going to scribble all over my manuscript.
R: Yes! That’s what I was getting at.
M: Robbi’s a real blister.
R: Robbi is persuasive!
M: A persuasive, middle-aged blister.
R: That’s me!
One of the biggest takeaways I got from reading this book is the importance of communication, listening, and respect, especially in an election. I’d like to hear more about how you created the book to reflect that.
M: To be honest, I never thought about communication, listening, or respect while writing this book. But those things are all super important to Robbi and me in our collaboration. So…going back to the theory that this series is all about us, I think it makes perfect sense that these values are woven into the story.
R: They’re values that persist throughout the whole series, and not just in The Cookie War. What’s so great about Ben and Janet is how well they communicate with each other, how well they listen to each other, and how much they respect each other.
M: They love each other very much. They have opposite approaches. But the problems eventually get solved because they work so hard to get on the same page.
R: I want to add—and maybe I’m wrong about this—but I don’t believe this book was deliberately timed to coincide with the election.
M: You are not wrong. It was a glorious accident that made our editor so happy. I’m not sure there’s any author who is less strategic or thoughtful in choosing their subject matter.
Robbi, your illustrations ABSOLUTELY bring the book to life. I’m a person who reads in pictures. It was surprising to me to feel such relief in reading this book, as the pictures were already there, and so wonderfully evocative. What is your art process like, to collaborate on bringing this story to the page—and to life?
[Deep sigh from Robbi]
M: Why are you so defeated? You have a clear process.
R: I do?
M: Yes! You take the manuscript and break it into chunks. You think about the story in 100-word segments, because you know that’s how much fits on each page. You build your layouts so that the words and images interact and overlap in fun and surprising and non-redundant ways.
R: All right, fine. Maybe I do have a process.
M: And you make sure there’s always at least one illustration on each page, so kids have visuals to guide them as they’re working their way through the book.
R: That was a very nice way of framing that. However, I think maybe my motives in drawing tons of illustrations are a bit more selfish.
M: You don’t care about the children at all, do you?
R: I don’t! Mostly I like to…
M: Make yourself happy?
R: Yes! I want to…
M: Draw the things that you want to draw?
R: I’m afraid so.
M: And it just so happens that your selfish ways make the children happy, too?
R: I’m a child at heart.
M: You heard it here folks. Robbi doesn’t care about the children. Wait, wait. That’s not true. Robbi loves the children very much.
R: I do.
M: One of the things that makes us happiest is when people tell us that struggling readers pick up our books and Robbi’s illustrations give them the extra boost they need to finish reading a long book, which makes them feel proud and helps them discover that they actually do like reading.
R: Yeah, I want to add that a big part of my process is that Matthew’s writing doesn’t include a lot of in-depth descriptions.
M: Is this just a classy way of saying I’m a bad writer?
R: No, no, no. This is a way of saying your writing lends itself really well to me getting illustrate in a way that doesn’t feel redundant. Because of the way Matthew writes—without much description of people or settings—he leaves lots of space for me to fill with my drawings, which I really appreciate.
How can families and educators utilize this book and other resources in discussions about creating a better world, differing viewpoints, etc.
M: What I like about Cookie Chronicles as a series is that by wrapping each book thematically around a fortune cookie, there’s a nugget of baked-in wisdom or lesson that Ben gets to wrestle with from various angles.
R: It’s usually a well-known proverb, such as Live each day as if it were your last, which is the fortune from book one or Good things come to those who wait, from book two, or Practice makes perfect, from book three.
M: Once a kid has read a Cookie Chronicles book, they’ll have internalized some helpful piece of life perspective.
R: Remind me, since I never read this book, what’s the fortune in The Cookie War?
M: There are several in this one. Actions speak louder than words is what convinces Ben to run for student council. And then there’s All’s fair in love and war, which makes Ben believe it’s okay to be a bit mud-sling-y in his approach. And then there’s You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, which is how Ben decides to switch from a negative campaign to a positive one.
R: One thing I’ve never thought about until now: What the proverbs and fortune cookie fortunes do in the context of these stories is show kids that they have the power to change the narrative.
M: How so?
R: When Ben is struggling with something, and he gets a fortune, he thinks, “If I look at what’s happening through the frame of this fortune, if I behave differently and make different choices, I can let this piece of advice help me solve this problem.”
We want readers to realize that when something’s not working your life, you can change the story and get a different outcome by reframing it. I think that’s a pretty useful tool for kids when it comes to creating a better world.
What’s up next for you?
M: I just finished writing book seven of Cookie Chronicles—The Cookie of Destiny— and Robbi is busy illustrating it.
R: Robbi is currently living in a sugar-fueled, drawing-themed fugue state.
M: My job is to stand back and bring her chocolate and cheeseballs.
R: Matthew is very good at his job.
M: We also have a standalone novel called Life on the Moon coming out in 2026.
R: I love this book so much. It’s full of big ideas and moon creatures. And it’s hilarious.
M: Robbi will also be scribbling all over that manuscript.
R: When we’re not actually making books, we’re often hanging out with elementary school students, and not just the one who lives in our house.
M: We spent the 2022-23 school year living in a tiny home school bus with our four children and two dogs, visiting Title I elementary schools in all fifty states, giving free books to all the students and teachers we met along the way. We called it the Busload of Books Tour, and it was the best year of our lives.
R: We’re continuing that work by serving twelve Title I communities a year for the next five or six years until we take another year-long tour when our youngest son is in eighth grade.
M: As much as we love making books, our favorite thing is using them to connect with kids, and especially kids who might not otherwise have the opportunity to meet creators and get a chance to recognize their own creative powers.
How can people find your work?
R: Anywhere you find books, for the most part. Bookstores, libraries. I often find them under our couch.
M: People can learn more about our books and programming at our Robbi & Matthew website: www.robbiandmatthew.com
R: And more about Busload of Books at www.busloadofbooks.com.
M: Every single day we post a sixty-second video about what we’re making or doing or thinking about on our social media channels.
R: The videos are ridiculous! They have no redeeming value.
M: It’s just two middle-aged blisters channeling their inner nine-year-olds.
R: Here’s how to find us:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robbi.and.matthew/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robbiandmatthew/
YouTube: youtube.com/@robbiandmatthew
MATTHEW SWANSON and ROBBI BEHR are husband/wife, author/illustrator creators of many illustrated children’s novels and picture books. Their national literacy access and awareness project Busload of Books provides free books, creative programming, teddy bears, and hugs to underserved elementary schools across the country.
Robbi and Matthew (and their four kids and two dogs) spent the 2022-2023 school year traveling 34,000 miles in a colorful tiny home school bus, bringing free books and assemblies to students and teachers in all 50 states, and facilitating a landmark research study on the impact of author/illustrator visits.
They spend their summers running a commercial salmon fishing operation on the Alaskan tundra and the rest of the year making books in the hayloft of an old barn on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
