Cookie & Broccoli: Play It Cool: A Graphic Novel

by Bob McMahon, Bob McMahon (Illustrator)

Overview

Best friends Cookie and Broccoli take on popularity and overcoming obstacles together through kindness and laughter in this cheerful early graphic novel that's perfect for fans of Narwhal and Jelly.

Chatty Cookie and bashful Broccoli are best buddies, even if they're as different as peanut butter and cheese! Elementary school can be tough, but as long as they have each other, there's nothing they can't handle. Uh-oh, but what happens when Cool Cucumber and his loyal followers put Cookie's and Broccoli's coolness to the test, and Cookie's hokey pokey dance does NOT impress? And worse, when Broccoli's cool math trick propels him to be the new leader of the Cool Crowd? Can their friendship withstand this popularity contest? Will Cookie and Broccoli be able to come together and define for themselves what's truly cool? Join this adorable duo on their latest adventure and find out.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593529188
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	10/12/2021
Series:	Cookie & Broccoli , #2
Pages:	80
Sales rank:	629,384
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 8.23(h) x 0.38(d)
Lexile:	GN540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Bob McMahon is an illustrator and creator of the Cookie & Broccoli series. He lives in Thousand Oaks, California, with his wife and daughter and a dog named Sam.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Cookie & Broccoli: Play It Cool

*Texas' Little Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List selection*
 
“With nonstop silliness from start to finish, McMahon’s second series entry offers yet another affirming lesson for school-age readers. . . . ‘Fantabulously’ cool.”—Kirkus Reviews

*“This morality tale about popularity and influence takes a refreshing turn as Cucumber revels in his newfound freedom and Broccoli stresses out as the new leader of coolness. . . . Readers get a powerful, relatable lesson in the kind of coolness that matters: dismantling unfair systems for everyone’s benefit.”—School Library Journal, starred review


Praise for Cookie & Broccoli: Ready for School!

*Florida's Sunshine State Young Reader Award nominee* 
*Texas' Little Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List selection*

“Delightful, owing in no small part to Cookie and Broccoli’s odd-couple chemistry. . . . A great start to a conversation between early elementary students and their grown-ups about kind, confident social interaction.”—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

★ 11/19/2021

K-Gr 3—Broccoli and Cookie want to impress Cucumber, leader of the Cool Crowd. Cookie's hokey pokey dance and Broccoli's math brain teaser are not enough to earn them membership, so Broccoli argues that Cucumber isn't cool, either, resulting in Cucumber stepping down from the Cool Crowd. This morality tale about popularity and influence takes a refreshing turn as Cucumber revels in his newfound freedom and Broccoli stresses out as the new leader of coolness. As it turns out, being too cool to laugh at anything funny just isn't very enjoyable. A line about gluten-free and organic cookies being cool will land differently from reader to reader. Although the setting for many pages is a gray horizon line, the anthropomorphic food crowd and their variety of dialogue and speech balloons lend a lot of color and expression to each page. VERDICT Readers get a powerful, relatable lesson in the kind of coolness that matters: dismantling unfair systems for everyone's benefit.—Thomas Maluck, Richland Lib., SC

School Library Journal

2021-07-27
Eager to make friends, Cookie and Broccoli test their cool factor.

Seeing a poster at school, Cookie, Broccoli, and Garlic vie to join the “Cool Crowd.” Trouble is, there’s only one opening to replace Banana, who’s split. One by one, the anthropomorphic foods’ applications to join the “Cool Crowd” are declined. Garlic smells. Cookie’s rendition of the Hokey Pokey isn’t up to par. Broccoli barely even speaks before hearing a flat-out “NO!” This prompts Broccoli to make a speech about coolness that turns the “Cool Crowd” against their own leader, Cucumber. Elected as their new leader, Broccoli must decide what is cool and what is not—a task that is such “a big pain in the PATOOTIE” that Broccoli runs away. Can the “Cool Crowd” find their leader without losing their own cool? With nonstop silliness from start to finish, McMahon’s second series entry offers yet another affirming lesson for school-age readers. Following a similar formula to Cookie & Broccoli Ready for School! (2020), the book is made up of five sections: three chapters, a quiz, and an epilogue. The dialogue-driven story connects words to speakers with squiggly lines, typically only a sentence or two per panel. Expressive typography adds some colorful flair to predictable block paneling and mostly white, uncluttered backgrounds. The black-outlined cartoon characters are simply but recognizably drawn, especially the tiny blueberry who adds extra comic relief throughout.

“Fantabulously” cool. (Graphic fiction. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews