One Cool Friend

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

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.