One Cool Friend

Written by Toni Buzzeo

Narrated by David deVries, Owen Tanzer and Robertson Dean

When well-mannered Elliot reluctantly visits the aquarium with his distractible father, he politely asks whether he can have a penguin - then removes one from the penguin pool into his backpack. The fun of caring for a penguin in a New England Victorian house is followed by a surprise revelation by Elliot's father.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Weston Woods
• Release date: Oct 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9780545837095

Reviews for One Cool Friend

[qianqiongwang · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This picture book tells a funny story that a boy named Elliot have a visit of aquarium with his father, and bring his pet, a penguin to home. He spend a lot of happy time with his penguin and then he found his father already had a sea turtle at home, which is really a funny end. The illustrations in this book was done with pen and ink, ink wash, water color and color pencil, which full of imagination.Usage: This book is adapt to primary school student. It can teach kids the name of some marine animals.

[rosa.mill · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Eliot goes to the aquarium with his father and acquires a pet penguin. The penguin dresses properly just like Eliot does although the penguin sometimes forgets his manners. The artwork only uses black, white, blue and green and gets really far on these colors. Love both the librarian and his fathers reaction to Eliot's pet penguin.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Elliot visits the aquarium with his father and comes home with a penguin. We learn in the course of the book that Elliot is simply following in his father's footsteps. The story is humorous and certain to entertain young readers. The illustrations are simple but effective.

[mbabst-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This captivating story takes one on an adventure with a very educated young child. Elliot and his father live a very lavish lifestyle. When they decide to escape their lavish lifestyle and spend the day together at an aquarium, Elliot's father reads the paper at a bench the entire time. Elliot wanders off and falls in love with a penguin, and precedes to ask his father if he can have one. This captivating story allows readers to be enthralled with how Elliot takes care of his penguin. I would read this book to a group of pre-k to first graders because I feel as though they would be able to tell me which animal they would want to bring home from the zoo.

[pussreboots · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo is another story of a boy and a penguin. There seem to be an avalanche of these books. They all go like this: child goes on a field trip to an aquarium and for one reason or another ends up bringing a penguin home where he has to hide said penguin from his family.It's one of many recent books involving someone smuggling a penguin home. Who started this trend? Sure penguins have been popular in children's movies in the last couple decades, but there the penguins are characters, not things to be smuggled home!Now this takes the clichéd story and gives it a funny twist at the end. For that genre savviness, I'm rating the book above the others I've read. David Small's adorable drawings help too. He gives the boy a rather Buster Keaton-ish flare.

[rachelmuegge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Clever story. I love the penguin theme of this book and the interesting main character! Kids would love it! The illustrations are filled with clues that bring to light the wonderful surprise at the end!

[root.katy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Caldecott Honor Book. Fun, quirky story about a very proper boy who gets a penguin as a pet. His father is too engrossed in his National Geographic to notice the lengths to which Elliot must go to in taking care of his pet. This book will make you smile - great ending.

[mad.river.librarian · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fun, exuberant, droll. With a smart librarian cameo to boot. This book is a perfect hook for getting kids interested in all things penguin. Pair it with a live web cam of penguins at the Monterey Aquarium and a launch to a great research unit.

Love, love, loved it!

[whisper1_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Continuing the quest to read all Caldecott medal and honor books, as with the Newbery award winning books, some are wonderful, others lack luster.One Cool Friend is a story of a very proper young man who take a trip to the aquarium with his equally straight laced father. Asking his father for a penguin, he is given money for a stuffed animal. Dumping all materials from his book bag, Elliot kidnaps a small penguin. Attracted to the penguins because they are dressed in proper attire, like Elliot, he brings the critter home.The father doesn't realize the penguin is in his house until the end of the book when he shares his large turtle friend. The illustrations were ok, the story upsetting. A father takes his son on a trip and then pulls out a book to read. The experience of the occasion is not shared. When the penguin is discovered, the absent minded, the "proper" father does not chastise his "proper" son for theft.

[imandayeh · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This quirky story is about Eliott who is an extremely proper boy. His father asks him if he wants to go to the aquarium and although he does not he is proper enough to say yes. When he gets there he feels he fits right in with the penguins. He asks his father if he can bring a penguin home, his father agrees thinking he means a plush one. Eliott sneaks him into his backpack and hides him within the house. Many silly things happen within the time he has him. This humorous story has a twist at the end. When Eliott's father finds the penguin he doesn't get mad he has an exotic pet of his own! Both the turtle and the penguin are named after historic figures, so after reading this story with children you can go in depth about these figures. The illustrations are very fun. I would recommend to children in grades 1-4.

[aloupe-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a great story about misunderstandings with a twist at the end that I didn't see coming. I read it a second time to look at the pictures because of the twist at the end. I love penguins and turtles so I loved this book and will share it with students to teach friendship and how misunderstandings can happen easily.

[afussell-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of misunderstandings. Elliot takes a penguin home from the zoo as an exotic pet only to find out his father has an exotic pet as well. I would read this elementary students to teach friendship and a few fun facts about penguins.

[fjola-5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A funny, quirky, clever story, we really liked it. Also the cool, pure illustrations. Real delight.

[roxygamboa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was a great, humorous one. It's about a proper little boy named Elliot who went and spent the day at the aquarium with his father. As his father sat down on a bench to read, he allowed Elliot to explore on his own. Elliot ended up bringing a real penguin home. The end of the story was very surprising and clever. This was a great read.

[matthewbloome · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Funny. I really loved this book. The dad was so delightfully aloof and there was this dry tongue-in-cheek humor to their interactions that I was delighted with all the way through. Great book!

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An oh-so-proper young boy named Elliot finds his dream companion in this picture-book from author Toni Buzzeo and illustrator David Small. Attending Family Fun Day at the local aquarium with his father, Elliot falls desperately in love with the Magellanic penguins, asking his father if he can have one. His distracted parent, thinking he is talking about a stuffed animal, duly hands over a twenty dollar bill (and gives his permission), and soon Elliot and his new spheniscine friend are settling in together at home. His clueless dad is oblivious to the goings on - from Elliot cranking the AC in his room, to creating an ice rink for the new resident - until he goes to take a bath and finds a (live!) penguin already in the tub. Will Elliot be in trouble? Or will there be a surprise in store for him...?Readers familiar with David Small's hilarious Imogene's Antlers will smile in recognition at the amusing surprise ending here, in which Elliot's father turns out to have a similar pet of his own, in the form of a Galapagos turtle. The story is engaging, and will keep children who long for a special animal companion of their own entertained, while the artwork is expressive and amusing. All that said, somehow I just didn't find One Cool Friend to be quite the stand-out that I expected it to be, based on my friends' rave reviews. I enjoyed it - I appreciated the visual parallel created between the suit-wearing Elliot and his penguin, as well as the little illustrative clues about Elliot's father and his own turtle companion, and can see why this was chosen as a Caldecott Honor Book earlier this year - but somehow in the end, I just wasn't as involved in the story as I thought I would be. My funnybone wasn't tickled in quite the way that it was reading Small's Imogene's Antlers, or Margaret Mahy's The Boy Who Was Followed Home.Of course humor is very idiosyncratic, so I suspect that many other readers will take One Cool Friend entirely to heart. I'd recommend this one to young penguin-lovers, and to children who long for an unusual animal companion of their own.

[achatela · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Elliot is a very polite little boy. Him and his father goes to the Aquarium. Soon he discovers the penguins and he realizes that they remind him of himself. Soon Elliot takes the smallest penguin and places it in his backpack and takes him home. Soon his father realizes he has a penguin but to Elliot's surprise his father has a turtle.

[kimjd_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A warm and humorous story that's perfectly complemented by David Small's illustrations. Elliot picks up a souvenir when he and his father visit the aquarium. But instead of the stuffed penguin that his father assumes Elliot has purchased, Elliot has brought home the real thing-- a Magellanic Penguin from the southern tip of Argentina. Dad is delightfully obtuse as Elliot cares for his penguin, builds an ice skating rink in his bedroom, and heads to the library for some research on Magellan... his penguin, not the explorer. The story has a surprising and funny twist at the end that kids will love, and lends itself beautifully to conversations about both the biography section and the 500's section of the library. And as befits a book by a former librarian, the librarian featured in the story is very cool.

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Delightfully illustrated, entertaining story.

[jennycheckers · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One Cool Friend written by Toni Buzzeo and illustrated by David Small (2012) has won numerous awards for it's wonderful illustrations and clever story, including a Caldecott Honor and the New York Times Best Seller Award. Elliot, a polite and proper young boy, asks his father for a penguin on Family Fun Day at the aquarium. His father, thinking he must mean a stuffed penguin, gladly hands over a twenty-dollar bill, thus beginning the silly tale of an admirable friendship. In the classroom, I would use this in a unit to study penguins, urban legends, Magellan and exploration. Also, Elliot loves penguins because they remind him of himself, and David Small does a brilliant job of showing how the two are similar. Kids would love to compare words and pictures to find these similarities. Grades 3-5.

[claireforhan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A very cute book, with a funny ending. Kind of reminded me of a short version of Mr. Popper's Penguins.This was a story about a boy named Elliot who gets a penguin at the zoo. The author leads you to think that his father believes Elliot got a stuffed animal penguin. Elliot takes care of his friend, and his father keeps referring to his friend, "Captain Hook," leading the reader to think the dad also has a stuffed animal he got from the zoo. However, at the end, when Elliot's father finds the real penguin, it is revealed that Elliot's dad's friend, "Captain Hook," is actually a giant tortoise!The images are very original, simple yet detailed. They appear to be painted in water color, and ink pen, but with some oil pastel to make up the background. The illustrations are very fitting for Elliot being a "proper" young man, but at the same time provide for a funny, interesting conveyance of the story.

[rnc0909 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Adorable and charming, this very still story leads to a satisfyingly sillier conclusion. And if the shiny new Caldecott medal didn't convince you of the beauty of this book already, one quick peek inside will! The illustrations were whimsical and interesting. I really loved some of the small details of the illustrations, such as the text on the newspaper and the box of chocolate turtles on the table. Recommended.

[cfmichel_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A story about a proper boy named elliott. His dad takes him to the Aquarium where he spots a penguin. The penguin looks much like him in their tuxedo colors. He asks his dad if he can have a penguin, so his dad gave him $20. Little did he know, Elliott wanted a REAL penguin. Elliott takes a real penguin from the tank and brings it home. Elliott cares for the penguin and his father eventually finds it. Luckily, the father had his own secret turtle friend. I love the ending! A great story!

[alarson1_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good read aloud

[jlgadberry · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Summary:Elliot politely agrees to visit the aquarium with his father (even though he wasn't completely enthralled with the idea) who turns him loose to visit the various exhibits. Elliot's (seemingly) distracted father gives Elliot $20 to get a penguin to take home with him - which Elliot absconded with from the actual habitat. He names his penguin Magellan, takes him home, does his research and then uses the $20 his father had given him to purchase things to take care of Magellan. His father, commenting in the context that they are speaking of Magellan the explorer tells Elliot about his own experiences with Captain Cook. That night, as his father goes to take a bath and discovers Magellan in the bathtub, asks Elliot where the penguin came from, to which Elliot responds "Argentina" and his father points at the turtle on the floor and begins to talk about where Captain Cook came from.Personal Reflection:I LOVED this book. I found myself sitting in the library, laughing out loud as I read this book. The word play is amazing and the father's reactions and the little boy's politeness make this book a must-read! I will be buying this one for my library.Classroom Extension Ideas:-This book would make a wonderful introduction to a social studies unit on explorers.-It is a good example of how the way things are phrased can mean something completely different from how they sound sometimes (as well as a cautionary tale about not thinking the adults in life may not be as oblivious as one may think).

[dianevogan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great little story with fun illustrations.

[cmesa1_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really like this book the author does a great job at making it funny and at the same time instructional. It teaches kid about Ferdinad Magallean that discover the magellanic penguin in 1519.

[shazzerwise_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Elliot is a proper young lad. He likes formal clothing and he is exceedingly polite. On a trip to the aquarium with his less than attentive father, a simple, polite question leads to a wonderful friendship between Elliot and Magellan, the penguin he, uh, liberates. Author Toni Buzzeo sets up a lovely story and a cracker of a good joke ending. And illustrator David Small, with his imitable style and excellent eye for detail helps lay the groundwork for the final guffaw. A wonderful title to pair with another recent book, Jon Agee's My Rhinoceros.