One Cool Friend

This audiobook needs the complement of the print version for real success. The talented illustrator, David Small, has created pictures that carefully complete Toni Buzzeo's clever story about young, proper Elliot. Elliot seems out of sync with his unaware, preoccupied father. His father is so clueless that he allows his son to bring a penguin home from Family Fun Day at the aquarium. The pictures give visual clues about the truth of the situation and, even more importantly, provide a superb surprise ending. Families who have the visuals will find Chris Sorensen's reading a great enhancement. His sense of timing allows children to enjoy the humor of the characters' strange personality clashes, as well as the silliness and irony in the story. S.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Starred review from October 31, 2011
Elliot’s father wears a dorky plaid suit and works as some sort of naturalist. He’s also pretty absentminded, so when Elliot—a quiet, rosy-cheeked boy who prefers tuxedos—brings home a Magellanic penguin, he doesn’t notice. Small’s (Elsie’s Bird) ink-and-watercolor drawings are as urbane as Elliot’s bow tie, and he creates a magnificent mansion for Elliot and his father. Elliot fixes up a bedroom ice rink with the air conditioner and hose, puts Magellan to bed in the freezer, and takes him swimming in the bathtub. Buzzeo (the Adventure Annie books) gives Elliot courtly manners (“Thank you for inviting me” is his response to his father’s suggestion they visit the aquarium) and a quick wit. The book’s humor is built on gentle misunderstandings between father and son (when Elliot asks for a penguin, his father assumes he means a stuffed one from the aquarium gift shop). Though very much a boy-and-his-pet story, it’s just as much about two gentlemen who appear to be orbiting entirely different planets. The revelation that they’re not so dissimilar after all is about as sweet as it gets. Ages 5–8.

Who IS the cool friend? Father, son, penguin, or tortoise? Listen in as Toni Buzzeo's fantasy is brought to life by a dynamic trio of narrators--one as understated storyteller, one as professorial dad, and one as the ever polite and independent Elliot, the son whose mannerisms and looks are much like that of the penguin he acquires on an aquarium outing with his preoccupied father. Just as the narration is enhanced by the varied voices of the narrators, the story is enhanced and expanded by the illustrations of Caldecott-winning illustrator David Small. The humor is heightened by the details included in each vignette, and Dad's exasperated roar of "ELLIOT!" is the perfect lead-in to the conclusion. Listeners young and old will treasure this read-along. A.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

July 1, 2012

PreS-Gr 2-Elliot's father often seems less than focused. So when they visit the aquarium and Elliot asks for a penguin, his father doesn't even blink as he brings one home in his backpack. Elliot gets to know his new friend, and reports on the experience to his seemingly muddle-minded father. But perhaps Dad has more in common with his son than you might suppose. This sweet and unexpected story by Toni Buzzeo (Dial, 2012) is read clearly and crisply by Chris Sorensen. No sound effects or music come between the listener and the text. The book is highly dependent on David Small's delightfully subdued watercolor illustrations, with a fun surprise ending that you literally have to see to believe, so make sure to have it available. Paired with the book, the audiobook would make a dandy listening center and bring a grin to the face of any listener.-Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary, Federal Way, WA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.