The Cool Bean by Jory John, Illustrations by Pete Oswald

The Cool Bean by Jory John, Illustrations by Pete Oswald 

 

This review expresses my own personal opinion. 

This is a good book for your 3-year-old to elementary school child as the story can apply to young and older readers alike. 

This is another good book by the #1 New York Times Bestselling Team Jory John (Author) and Pete Oswald (Illustrator). Jory is a bestselling author and has won the E.B. White Read-Aloud Honor twice. 

 

As a kid and teenager, and maybe even now, many of us wanted to be the cool kid at school or at least to hang around the cool kids. This is the story of The Cool Bean who attends Beanside Elementary School where three cool beans also go. These beans have a reputation of being cool, not only at school but also in the neighborhood, all over town, and beyond county lines. These are really “cooool” beans. 

 

The central bean character used to hang out with the cool beans when they were younger, in the same pod, but as they got older the cool beans got cooler and the un-cool bean did not. He was awkward, shy, and somewhat of an outcast while the cool beans were the envy of every bean at school. 

 

So as the story goes, like a lot of kids, this bean did everything he could to become cool, nothing worked, in fact it got worse. But that is not the end of the story. This is not just about being cool; it is about much more. 

 

The author does a very nice job of conveying the message, that you don't have to be "Cool" to be "Cool," That being yourself is okay. He also shows how being cool can be good if you help others and that it’s more than just the cool clothes you wear, how good you can play sports, the cool musician, or the cool clothes. It is about self-awareness and self-acceptance, it’s what’s inside you that makes you really cool, not outward appearances. The author deftly shows how being cool has responsibilities, like being helpful, kind, being a friend. 

 

The writing and storytelling is what you would expect from a New York Times Best Selling author, crisp, clear, easy to understand, flows and delivers what is intended, a positive message about going through the challenges of self-identity, awkwardness, and trying too hard to be somebody or something you are not. The illustrations brings out the story, makes it come alive, and is relatable to young and older readers alike. 

 

My rating is 4 stars for the messages throughout, the diversity of characters in the color and character formats of the beans, ease of reading, and overall well-done illustrations.  

The book is a book that talks, which offers the ability to have your child listen on their own as the book reads itself and they turn the pages, or you can read along, injecting your thoughts and lessons about what it is to be “Really Cool.”