Product Description

A Fresh Story with an Old Recipe. I first heard a version of this story in 1992 while attending a 7 Habits; seminar by Stephen Covey's group. I have shared it many times over the years, finding it a wonderful, simple way to create meaningful dialogue about shifting paradigms, courageous communication, crucial conversations, premature judgment, thinking errors, etc. It has been such a valuable story to me that I wanted to share it with others in a fresh new way so, like my other book, The Dog Poop Initiative, it can be used in the board rooms, classrooms and the living rooms of leaders and parents everywhere. In my attempts to identify and credit the author of the original story, I learned that the story has been around for more that 100 years and the original creator of the tale is unknown. As I researched the history of the tale, I found that although the characters change gender and nationality, and the cookies are alternately candy bars, donuts, biscuits, etc., the irony of mistaken accusation and embarrassing misjudgment stays the same. It has been re-told in speeches, books, skits, and was even the central script of a short film titled The Cookie Thief (2005), said to be a nearly exact replica of another short film done (1991). These films attribute their version of the story to Sylvia Potts. A lady named Valerie Cox created her version of the story in the 90 s and it was published it in a Chicken Soup book. The author Douglas Adams claimed it actually happened to him, but those claims were challenged by those who heard it years before his claim. So who owns the story? Well, if you are holding this book I guess you do. Our family s favorite cookie recipe is an old one, but each time my wife makes a new batch our family enjoys again something, warm and deliciously fresh. I hope my retelling of this classic tale does the same for you and invites discussion, reflection, and a re-commitment to the moral it so tastefully shares. So pour yourself a nice cold glass of milk and savor this freshly baked version of The Cookie Thief.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #543806 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 30 pages

Review
Amazing Job on the book! I've heard this story before but it never made me laugh out loud like your book did. Cool idea hiding all the messages and stuff! Hope you'll be baking more books soon. ~ Rob I read The Cookie Thief book on my flight back home and the story line hit close to home. This is a true story that happened to me a few years ago. I called the helpdesk to submit a work order for my computer problems and they indicated someone would stop by in a few minutes (after all, I am their supervisor). I stepped out of my office for a few minutes and left behind my Butterfinger candy bar. When I got back, there was technician Matt munching on a Butterfinger bar. I asked him if he was enjoying the candy and he replied "yes" and kept right on snacking on what I thought was my candy bar. He soon fixed my PC problem and as he got up to leave, lifted his work order from my desk and underneath it was in fact my candy bar. I was speechless as he winked at me saying bet you thought that was your candy I ate didn't you?To this day, we both laugh about this. Ben Arroyo City of Peoria Information Technology Department --Rob & Ben

Another home run, Kirk! Ever since I read the Dr. Seuss classic;Oh, the Places You'll Go; many years ago, I've been a big fan of easy-to-read;picture books; that tell a great story and include important morals. Your book, ;The Dog Poop Initiative; is another classic example of what I am talking about. Now, with ;The Cookie Thief;, you have done it again! All three of the above-mentioned books should be in every home... AND in the board rooms of every business! Way to go, Kirk! Brent Gray Chief Operating Officer --Brent Gray

Hi Kirk, I love your version of Cookie Thief Book/Story - it's just so true! I have 3 stories for you! First, my story: The Eyeglass Thief. My wife, kids and I tore into The Cookie Thief when it arrived in the mail yesterday. We read it together, then leafed back through the pages and enjoyed the hidden messages and pictures. I asked my son William (nine years old), what he got from the story. He said, ;I liked where it said Weisler Hits a Home Run on the newspaper. :-) He also said it reminded him of when he's arguing with someone, and then finds out that he was wrong, and how that's embarrasing. (Learning is happening!) How timely your story! I looked frantically through my desk at work today for my reading glasses. I last had them yesterday, placing them in a drawer during a past-due desk de-cluttering ritual. I didn't use them after that, I didn't take them anywhere. So my internal temp's been on the rise for the past half an hour as I've torn my desk apart looking for them. Age 39 might be a youngish age for 'senior moments', though I'm not ruling it out altogether. But after a call home to my wife, and a thorough search of my car, I'm pretty sure they've been taken. So as I walked back from the parking lot just a few minutes ago, it hit me how so-like ;The Cookie Thief; my saga is. It made me reflect on which Cookie Thief I wanted to be * all angry and indignant, or bemused and selfless. Thanks for reminding me I have a choice: I own only one piece of this whole little drama * my reaction, which I get to choose. So here it is: If someone took my glasses, they must really need them, maybe they can't afford a pair themselves. I do hope they get good use out of them; I'm blessed that I can afford another pair. If, on the other hand, I took them out of that drawer myself, read something with them, laid them down somewhere, and somehow can't remember a stitch of any of that, then I'm also blessed. Blessed because I can afford another pair, and because God-willing I'm young enough to take advantage of the great advances that medicine will make in memory-loss prevention over the next few decades! And now, number B: Karen, the beautiful brunette middle-school science-teaching mother of my children who has graciously (some say miraculously) agreed to share her life and love with me, relayed to me yesterday that she uses ;The Dog-Poop Initiative; to discuss taking responsibility with her seventh- and eighth-grade students. (That explains where my copy of the book went to....) She reads the book aloud, and credits your story with a marked improvement in classroom responsibility! Thirdly, but not least: The quote you shared today is quite literally the most powerful definition of true friendship that I have ever read. I am sharing it with each of the people in my life that I can say, by that definition, is a true friend. It's not a small list * I am truly blessed!! Thanks for giving of yourself * you are a terrific role-model! God bless, Jim --Jim Garland

About the Author
Chief Morale Officer Kirk Weisler gained national recognition while working in the, high turnover, low pay, low morale world of outsourced contact centers where he created an outrageously cool corporate culture. A culture so rich in the spirit of ownership, engagement and measurable results that Kirk was invited to share them, first nationally, then internationally. He now travels around the world giving experiential keynotes on the everyday things leaders can do to positively influence climate and build great cultures for themselves and their people. Kirk s unique background as a US Army Ranger, his work with At-Risk Youth and experience as a Master Storyteller and Team Builder make him a very fun, engaging, and sought after speaker. He is the author of the Best Smelling book The Dog Poop Initiative and lives in Atlanta Georgia with Wonderful wife Rebecca and their five remarkable children!

Customer Reviews

Ehhh, okay...
Entertaining story but the rhyming and meter are a bit awkward and forced in places, which makes it kind of weird to read aloud. Could have done without all the author's self-promotion throughout the book. (Is he really that full of himself or was that his publicist's idea?) All in all, though, it teaches a great moral, the illustrations are very good, and the kids like to read it which is why I bought it in the first place. A step up from the Dog Poop Initiative.

A little pricey....
This is a well known story just told slightly different. A bit pricey for an ordinary tale.