The Cool Bean

by Jory John, Pete Oswald (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Is he the coolest of cool beans? Probably. But what does it even mean to be cool? This and more, courtesy of Jory John and Pete Oswald.

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

The “too-cool-for-school” third picture book from the #1 New York Times bestselling creators of The Bad Seed and The Good Egg, Jory John and Pete Oswald

Everyone knows the cool beans. They’re sooooo cool.

And then there’s the uncool has-bean . . .

Always on the sidelines, one bean unsuccessfully tries everything he can to fit in with the crowd—until one day the cool beans show him how it’s done.

With equal measures of humor, wit, and charm, the #1 New York Times bestselling duo Jory John and Pete Oswald craft another incredible picture book, reminding us that it’s cooler to be kind.

Check out Jory John and Pete Oswald’s funny, bestselling books for kids 4-8 and anyone who wants a laugh:

• The Bad Seed
• The Good Egg
• The Cool Bean
• The Couch Potato
• The Good Egg Presents: The Great Eggscape!
• The Bad Seed Presents: The Good, the Bad, the Spooky!
• The Cool Bean Presents: As Cool as It Gets
• That’s What Dinosaurs Do

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062954527
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/03/2019
Series:	Food Group Series
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD530L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jory John is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and two-time E. B. White Read Aloud Honor recipient. Jory’s work includes the award-winning Goodnight Already! series; the bestselling Food Group series, including The Bad Seed, The Good Egg, and more; the national bestseller All My Friends Are Dead; and many more popular picture books. You can visit him online at joryjohn.com.

Pete Oswald is an artist, picture book creator, and production designer. Pete is the illustrator of the New York Times bestselling Food Group series by Jory John and the Cranky series by Phuc Tran as well as many other picture books. When Pete is not working on books, he is helping to uplift many of the most successful animated franchises as a character designer, concept artist, and production designer. Pete lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife and three sons.

Editorial Reviews

This is a gentle, sweet story of how generosity and kindness are the true qualities to champion, and offers a great example for young readers and an important reminder for older readers. A strong addition to any collection. — School Library Journal (starred review)

Witty wordplay (“I was officially a has-bean”) and silly gags in the digital and watercolor illustrations (The Great Gatsbean, A Midsummer Night’s Bean, Leguma Beach) help downplay the didacticism and up the cool factor. — Horn Book Magazine

  Cool beans indeed. — Kirkus Reviews

Oswald's pipe-stemmed limbs, googly eyes, and accessories give these anthropomorphic legumes lots of personality. — Kirkus Reviews

John's good-hearted text makes [hay] with the bean puns... — Kirkus Reviews

as character-driven, pun-filled, and hilariously illustrated as its predecessors. — Booklist

The last line [drives] the message home: all kids can be cool if they’re kind. — Booklist

From the Publisher

Witty wordplay (“I was officially a has-bean”) and silly gags in the digital and watercolor illustrations (The Great Gatsbean, A Midsummer Night’s Bean, Leguma Beach) help downplay the didacticism and up the cool factor.

Horn Book Magazine

as character-driven, pun-filled, and hilariously illustrated as its predecessors.

Booklist

as character-driven, pun-filled, and hilariously illustrated as its predecessors.

Booklist

2019-10-23
A supposed "has-bean" shows that coolness has more to do with deeds than demeanor.

Offering further moral instruction in this leguminous cousin to The Bad Seed (2017) and The Good Egg (2019), Oswald portrays three beans—each a different species but all sporting boss shades, fly threads, and that requisite air of nonchalance—bringing the cool to streets, hallways, playgrounds, and Leguma Beach. Meanwhile, a fourth (a scraggly-haired chickpea), whose efforts to echo the look and the 'tude have fallen flat, takes on the role of nerdy narrator to recall "olden days" when they all hung out in the same pod. Still, despite rolling separate ways (nobody's fault: "That's just how it is sometimes. You spend less time together, even though you're not totally sure why"), when the uncool bean drops a lunch tray, skins a kid knee on the playground, or just needs a hint in class, one of the others is always on the scene toot suite. No biggie. And passing those casual acts of kindness forward? "Now that's cool." John's good-hearted text makes some hay with the bean puns while Oswald's pipe-stemmed limbs, googly eyes, and accessories give these anthropomorphic legumes lots of personality. As a fava to young audiences, pair with Jamie Michalak and Frank Kolar's Frank and Bean (2019) for a musical combination.

Cool beans indeed. (Picture book. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews