Literary Essay by William Weger “If you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to ask for a glass of milk. When you give him the milk, he'll probably ask you for a straw.” And so goes the circular chain of events in Laura Numeroff’s wildly popular picture book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. And when you give a child a book, a whole new adventure begins. And one book leads to another. And another. And a young reader and lifelong learner is born. Kids learn that books are like magic