Laura Joffe Numeroff

Mothers and fathers participating in everyday activities show their love for their children in very similar ways.

If you give a man a cookie...he's going to want milk to go with it...God forbid he should get it himself. If You Give a Man a Cookie is a woman's commentary about her helpless man and the chain of events that leads him on a journey from the bed to the bathroom to the couch and back to bed at nightfall.

If you give a mouse a brownie, he's going to ask for some ice cream to go with it. When you give him the ice cream, he'll probably ask you for a spoon. He'll start drumming on the table. Drumming will get him so excited he'll want to start a band.

A series of increasingly far-fetched events might occur if someone were to give a cupcake to a cat.

One thing leads to another when you give a pig a party.