Published: 3rd December 2019
Publisher: Harper Collins
Illustrator: Pete Oswald
Pages: 40
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars
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.
This is a fantastic book for kids who might have had friends who moved on and while they used to spend all their time together, now they’ve gone their separate ways. It can be hard seeing people you used to hang out with, especially if you’re not quite sure why you stopped hanging out in the first place.
The bean in the story tries hard to fit in with his old pod but nothing works, and while Bean thinks it’s because he is uncool, it is also showing you can’t pretend to be someone else, you can only be yourself. There’s so much kids can relate to in this story, it’s about loss, about change, but also about hope, kindness, and what being cool really means.
Once again the pun game is on point with the illustrations. Leguma Beach and The Great Gatsbean are the bean type puns we all need and I love how Oswald has created these little tiny pieces of joy in amongst his fun illustrations.
I like the formula of this series because while each story is unique, and the stories are diverse, the structure is often the same. The short sentences and miniature pictures are side by side with full page illustrations and with an absolutely delightful Jory John story through its pages what can go wrong?
You can purchase The Cool Bean via the following
QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository
Dymocks | Wordery | Angus and Robinson
Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible
Lost in a Good Book 