Fortune cookies are an iconic American invention that also reveals Asian American history. I’m featuring children’s books that showcase fortune cookies in a variety of ways, just like the fortune itself.
I’m also giving away 3 signed copies of Fortune Cookies for Everyone! To enter, please leave a comment.
10 Children’s Books Featuring Fortune Cookies
Fortune Cookies by Albert Bitterman, illustrated by Chris Raschka
A box with seven fortune cookies arrives, each with a message promising adventure, but it doesn’t necessarily turn out as planned. Each fortune has a pull tab to read the fortune. This is such a fun interactive feature of this charming days-of-the-week book. [picture book, ages 2 and up]
Three squirrels discover a fortune cookie factory and plan a heist in order to write their own fortunes that encourage people to give their fortune cookies to squirrels. [graphic novel series, ages 3 and up]
Fortune Cookie Fortune by Grace Lin
Mei-Mei and her family open fortune cookies, and she wonders why they are all coming true. Pair this book with Fortune Cookies for Everyone! The end note of this book says that sembei were. unsweetened, and that sugar was added to the fortune cookie to appeal to Americans. In Fortune Cookies for Everyone!, sembei is said to be flavored with sweetened miso, and the fortune cookie developed by Makoto Hagiwara was flavored not just with sugar, but also with vanilla. The origin of the fortune cookie is a mystery that you can decide for yourself. [picture book, ages 3 and up]
Fortune Cookie Dreams by Serene Chan
Li Juan is anxious as her family gets ready for a big move to a new city the next morning. As she sleeps, she has a dream that features a forest spirit and a series of fortune cookies. Each cookie’s message is encouraging until she opens the last one, which is blank. What does that mean? It’s a message of empowerment that she wrote to herself. [bilingual Mandarin picture book, ages 4 and up]
Fortune Cookies for Everyone!:
The mystery of the fortune cookie is traced back to bakeries in both San Francisco and Los Angeles. Which one really created this iconic American invention? And, which culture inspired it, Chinese or Japanese? Decide for yourself in this picture book that recounts how the fortune cookie wove itself into Asian American history and became a staple of Chinese restaurants given out with the bill.[picture book, ages 5 and up]
This humorous chapter book from 1988 did not age well. Zach and his father eat at a Chinese restaurant called Wun Dum Guy. The name is racist, and these are not real Chinese words. Zach’s fortune cookies always seem to come true, but his father’s do not, so he goes on a mission to learn more about them by visiting Wun Fat Sun Bakery in NYC’s Chinatown. Again, another made-up fake Chinese name. Still, this is an amusing book that would appeal to reluctant readers. The book is only 58 pages. [chapter book series, ages 7 and up]
The Mystery in the Fortune Cookie: The Boxcar Children Mysteries by Gertrude Chandler Warner
The boxcar children find themselves embroiled in another mystery when Benny gets a mysterious handwritten fortune at a Chinese restaurant. More fortune cookie clues lead them down a trail to a mysterious person, Drum Keller? Who is this person, and how are they connected to the fortunes? [chapter book series, ages 7 and up]
We Sing From the Heart by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Victor Bizar Gomez
Simon Tam fought for the right to trademark his band’s name, a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court and exposed structural racism in our justice system. The night before his case was to be heard by the Supreme Court, he opened a fortune cookie in a Chinese restaurant that said, “A judgment will soon rule in your favor.” Was this an omen? [middle grade picture book biography, ages 8 and up]
Anna Wang is traveling to China with her teacher and her husband to help translate for them when they adopt a baby girl. She has another mission as well, to learn more about the orphanage her little sister came from. Fortune cookies are a theme in this story, from the fortune cookies her grandmother sends her, to a bake sale fundraiser making fortune cookies, and to paper fortune cookie gifts. This sweet story gives the reader a glimpse into the adoption practice during China’s One Child policy, which ened ended in 2016. [chapter book series, ages 8 and up]
Ben Yokoyama gets a fortune that says “Live each day as if it were your last,” and it freaks him out. He decides to live as if he has only one day left on Earth. As he makes his list to accomplish on his last day, he gets everyone in his orbit entangled in this goal. Hilarious hijinks ensue. [middle grade notebook novel series, ages 8 and up]
p.s. Related posts:
How to make an Origami Fortune Cookie!
Fortune Cookies for Everyone! wins California Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award
Dorktales Podcast about Fortune Cookies for Everyone!
A Great Review by BookList for FORTUNE COOKIES FOR EVERYONE!
FORTUNE COOKIES FOR EVERYONE is a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection!
Meet illustrator Colleen Kong-Savage
Fortune Cookies for Everyone and meeting Colleen Kong-Savage at ALA
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My books:
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Barbed Wire Between Us by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación
- ⭐ Starred review from Kirkus
- ⭐ Starred review from Publishers Weekly
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal
- Kirkus: The Most Anticipated Children’s Books of Spring 2026
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Gold Award
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
The Traveling Taco:
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Silver Award
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Reading Rockets’ Summer Reading Guide 2025
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
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
- Recommended Reading for the Social Justice Literature Award 2025 (International Literacy Association)
- Pennsylvania Mountain Laurel Book Award Nominee 2026-27
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
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Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal!
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- dPICTUS 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Nautilus Silver Winner, Nonfiction Children’s Picture Book
- Sunshine State Young Readers Award Orange Blossom List for Nonfiction
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Bank Street College’s The Best Children’s Books of the Year
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
I love fortune cookies and this great booklist! I wish my library had more of these books, but looking forward to reading Ben Yokoyama series with my son! I would love to receive a copy of “Fortune Cookies for Everyone.” I provide books for my local laundromat library and this would be a great addition! If anyone is interested in stewarding their own laundromat library, here’s the website for more info: https://www.laundromatlibraryleague.org/get-involved
The books I’ve read so far from you have been received with enthusiasm by the young readers with whom I’ve shared them. I’ve posted reviews on Goodreads that reflect this overall sentiment. Thanks for writing high-quality children’s books! 🙂
I always love reading stories that focus on food. It is a fun way to share how different cultures enjoy different treats. This looks like a such a lovely story!
Love, love, love your books and blog.