FORTUNE COOKIES FOR EVERYONE is a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection!

I am so excited to announce that Fortune Cookies for Everyone, illustrated by Colleen Kong-Savage and published by Red Comet Press in collaboration with the Smithsonian, is a Junior Library Gold selection!

Fortune Cookies for Everyone! (Smithsonian): The Surprising Story of the Tasty Treat We Love to Eat by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Colleen Kong-Savage

An investigative picture book which cracks the cookie open to discover what is known about the origins of everyone’s favorite crunchy after-dinner treat – a collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution

Grandma Miyako hosts her grandchildren for a takeout meal. Of course, at the end of the meal, she hands out the fortune cookies and begins to share the story of this popular treat with the attentive children as they munch on them. She claims she knew the true inventor of the fortune cookie, but the history is not so clear. Using “fortunes” as headings, each section of the book delivers an episode in the unusual history of the fortune cookie and lays out the great debate about where and when they were first made. California was certainly the location, but in which city was the original baker located? This picture book looks inside these crunchy, biscuity treats to reveal the cultural origins and locations of the creators. Along the way, we discover some surprising history regarding this delicious edible delight, including a rivalry between bakers that remains somewhat unresolved today. Fortune Cookies for All is a compelling mystery containing US history—the good, the bad, and the ugly—in a single bite. But most of all, it celebrates immigrants and their pursuit of the American dream. [picture book, ages 4 and up] Releases October 21, 2025.

About Junior Library Guild

For over 95 years, Junior Library Guild (JLG) has supported librarians by reading tens of thousands of titles and handpicking only the best ones across 70+ categories. Editors review manuscript submissions before books are published; before they are reviewed; before there are any best-of nominations. Nearly 95% of JLG Gold Standard Selections go on to earn starred or favorable reviews and industry honors and awards.

p.s. Related posts:

WE SING FROM THE HEART is a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection

FOOD FOR THE FUTURE is a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection!

‘Food for the Future’ makes Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best

Starred Review for FOOD FOR THE FUTURE from School Library Journal!

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My books:

Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

The Traveling Taco: The Amazing and Surprising Journey of Many of Your Favorite Foods

Reading Rockets’ Summer Reading Guide 2025

Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Fortune Cookies for Everyone! (Smithsonian): The Surprising Story of the Tasty Treat We Love to Eat

Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court

ALSC Notable Children’s Book
2025 Carter G. Woodson Book Award Middle Level Honoree
Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
2024 Julia Ward Howe Prize for Children’s Literature Winner
California Eureka Non-Fiction Award Honor Book
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year 2025
Junior Library Guild Gold Selection