Storey Kuo wrote the rhymes and drew the illustrations for her picture book, “The Magical Arguing Cookies.”
By Storey Kuo
My children's picture book was born from a life-altering personal experience. It was at 9 p.m. in January 2022 when I began to hear a loud ringing in my left ear.
After visiting several doctors, I found out I had developed sudden hearing loss in my left ear due to COVID—something I didn't even know was possible.
This happened while I was in middle school, 8th grade. Afraid of judgment, I hid this fact from my friends and began to miss more and more school as I attempted various treatments to revive my hearing, but nothing worked.
When I got to high school, I tried a hearing aid for a week, but it didn’t work for me. Whenever I put it on, it would make super high pitch noises for no reason. My doctors attributed this to the fact that I can hear somewhat better at lower frequencies compared to higher frequencies based on my hearing tests.
Picturing Compassion
Growing up, my house was filled with picture books, where I read one before bed each night without fail. To this day, many of the life lessons I live by came from the messages and morals of those books.
One of my favorite picture books was “The Day the Crayons Quit” by Drew Daywalt. It made me laugh on every page, but it also taught me about compassion and empathy. That mix of humor and heart stuck with me.
Storey credits her younger brother Brad for being supportive through her sudden hearing loss and creation of the book, and for both loving picture books growing up.
While learning to accept and live with my sudden hearing loss, I started to write a children's picture book of my own, in order to process the lessons I learned while going through this experience. I spent hours working on the story, writing rhymes and drawing the pages by hand.
My book, “The Magical Arguing Cookies,” is a silly, fun tale with a meaningful message: Everyone is special and unique in their own way, and that’s a wonderful thing.
The story follows nine cookies who come alive and argue over which one of them is the “best.”
Is it Chocolate Chip, who is very sweet? Or perhaps Fortune Cookie, who comes with a special surprise? When Oliver, the main character (inspired by my little brother, Brad), must decide which cookie deserves the title, he discovers that all of the cookies are special in their own ways.
Eventually, the cookies realize this for themselves, too. The story doesn’t end there—his sister returns to find her cookies magically alive, and it is now the cookies’ turn to help teach her a valuable lesson, too.
Brotherly Love
I included my 14-year-old brother in the story because he’s been such a big part of my life. We grew up reading picture books together, sharing our favorites, and bonding over bedtime stories.
He has always supported me—through my hearing loss and the process of writing this book—and I wanted to include a piece of our connection in the story as a way to show how much he means to me.
Storey has been sharing the message of her picture book by reading it aloud to local schools, libraries, and other events.
Why cookies, you might wonder? I decided to make my characters cookies because they are familiar, comforting, and loved by almost everyone.
Each cookie can be made with different ingredients, but they all bring something enjoyable. I felt like cookies would be a fun, relatable way to show that even though we’re different, we each have value.
I’ve had the chance to read my book aloud at schools, libraries, and community events, as well as donate copies to special education schools across the country. It’s been amazing to see kids connect with the story and even feel inspired to write books of their own.
For me, this book has been more than a creative project—it’s been a journey of resilience, inclusivity, and the power of storytelling. Whether it inspires someone to overcome a challenge or simply brings a smile, I’m grateful for the impact it’s had and for the chance to share my story with others.
I am also exploring other ways to help my hearing, including trying out new smart glasses that provide instant subtitles on the inside of the lenses.
And finally, I admit it’s also been fun to fulfill the promise of my name. My mom picked it out, she says, because she loved the idea of everyone having their own narrative, a reminder that we each have our own story to write.
Storey Kuo is a high school sophomore in Southern California. If you’d like to get in touch with her to collaborate on a reading, fundraiser, or other event, please send a message to editor@hhf.org. Find “The Magical Arguing Cookies” on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
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