Synopsis
The boy in this book has a big brother who is good at everything. He's a wild rock singer and a terrific climber. He's read hundreds of books, he writes brilliant stories, and he's brave enough to stand up to bullies. To his adoring younger brother, this big brother is a hero. More than that - he is really cool. He can even whistle!
With bright and funny illustrations that will endear these siblings to readers, this is a fantastic follow-up to Anthony Browne's popular My Dad and My Mom.
Children's Literature
My brother, our young narrator informs us, "is really COOL." Browne's accompanying picture shows the brother with carefully labeled "cool hair," "cool ears," "cool shirt," "cool sweater," "cool jeans," and "REALLY cool sandals." Among the brother's cool accomplishments are prowess at jumping, climbing, soccer, skateboarding, running, reading, writing, drawing, singing, dancing, whistling, and bubble-blowing—all appropriately matched with amusingly labeled illustrations of the brother with his "cool goal," "cool helmet," "cool bubble," and so forth. The charm of Browne's depiction of a younger brother's hero worship of his older sibling is that the "cool" brother really does not look that cool at all—he's just a grinning, good-natured, somewhat chunky kid engaged in ordinary kidlike activities (well, he can also fly and sit down on monsters, at least in the imagination of his adoring little brother!). By the end of the book, the younger brother is able to recognize his own coolness (the closing spread shows both brothers in identical cool outfits, with identical huge smiles). When so many books portray hostility and jealousy between siblings, it is a joy to see the sibling bond celebrated here—and to see that coolness can be expressed not only in clothes and sports, but in reading, writing, and drawing, too.