Jory John’s Cool Series

Jory John’s Food Group series of books is fun-tastic. With animated, edible protagonists and scads of legume puns (has-bean, A Tale of Two Chickpeas, Ray Beans sunglasses, Leguma Beach, etc.), these stories aim to show that it is “cool to be kind” in ways that appeal to the 4 to 8-year-old sense of humor. How can you go wrong with book titles like The Big Cheese, The Bad Seed, The Smart Cookie, The Good, The Bad, and The Spooky, and The Sour Grape?

At the beginning of The Cool Bean story, the eponymous lead character shares a pod with friends, but they turn out to be waaay cooler. Things get progressively worse in the self-esteem department. After a series of foibles, discouragement sets in. Cue the “cool” beans, who each help pick up the spilled lunch and remedy other issues, quietly exhibiting empathy, which is why they are so cool.  

How does an author aid in the success of his books? One strategy is to write sequels: Cool Bean Makes a Splash – which is also an Easy-to-Read – and As Cool As It Gets, which includes two pages of stickers for the reader to play with. It also helps that Jory has received scads of awards, among them, two E.B. White Honor awards. Teachers and parents will find the books’ connections to healthy food are also strategic.

The picturebooks are illustrated by artists attuned to Jory’s wavelength, including Pete Oswald and Lane Smith, who has his own stellar credentials to help prop up the books. The googly-eyed, skinny-legged Cool Beans characters are relatable, and the urban settings are familiar. The bright, active artwork will be attractive to kids who will see that kindness really is cool.

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

Jory John has more awards than the Guinness Book of Records can count.

Pete Oswald is a movie animator and book award winner.

Lane Smith is a sweet, shy optimist, who is not likely to brag about his two Caldecott Honor books.

The Cool Bean

by Jory John and Pete Oswald

40 pages, ages 4-7, International edition

Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers