One Cool Friend

One of this year's Caldecott Honors books is One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo and illustrated by David Small. This picture book starts out with the statement "Elliot was a very proper young man." Elliot wears a tuxedo and in some way, acquires a pet penguin from family day at the museum. I deeply enjoyed this book not only because of the moral of the story, but because the clever use of the pops of color. Elliot's backpack is red, his father wears green. The pictures give us hints about what father's pet might be. Astute picture book readers will figure it out, because dad eats turtles and dresses a bit like a turtle too. I think that this is a great book and the drawings add to the narrative, like the pictures in a Caldecott Honor book should