Pizza and Taco: Too Cool for School! by Stephen Shaskan

Pizza and Taco: Too Cool for School! by Stephen Shaskan. Random House Books for Young Readers, 2022. 9780593376072

Rating:  1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review): 4

Format: Hardcover, graphic novel, early reader

Genre: Humor

What did you like about the book? It’s the first day of school, and fast food friends Pizza and Taco are ready.  Pizza has a brand new Freddy the Fire Truck backpack, and the pals are excited to watch the season premiere of their favorite show after school.  When they arrive, the schoolyard is abuzz about the arrival of a new student who is really cool.  Pizza and Taco rush to meet him, and find out he’s a sandwich who is so cool, he goes by his initials… B.L.T.  B.L.T. speaks in one word phrases (mostly ‘cool’ or ‘whatever’) and wears sunglasses.  He makes Pizza and Taco late for class, and discourages them from doing their favorite fun activities at recess: “The curly slide is for little kids.”  Pizza and Taco love the attention, but they don’t like getting in trouble with Mr. Apple.  When they meet B.L.T.’s big brother (who appears to be Ham & Cheese) after school, they get a little insight into their new friend’s attitude, and realize that it’s really cool to just be yourself.

Too Cool For School is five chapters of food-filled fun in comic book format.  The comic panels and speech bubbles are easy to follow, and the dialogue includes basic vocabulary, modern vernacular and bad food puns (“Mr. Apple is really crabby today.”).  Readers will relate to the anxiety surrounding the first day of school, and will empathize with the struggle to seem cool in front of new friends while sticking with the things you love.  The illustrations consist of simple, digitally rendered scenery, behind the characters, which are drawn in black lines onto photos of actual eponymous junk food.  Their expressive eyes, mouths and body language are hilarious.  Beginning readers will think this book is way cool. 

Anything you did not like about the book?  No

To whom would you recommend this book? As book four in a popular series, it will have a built-in audience.  It’s a good fit for lower elementary readers who have enjoyed silly friendship stories like Rabbit & Robot (Bell) or Narwhal & Jelly (Clanton), or who are looking for the next step after Elephant & Piggie.

Who should buy this book? Public and elementary school libraries

Where would you shelve it?  Early readers or easy comics

Should we (librarians) put this on the top of our “to read” piles?  No

Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City:  Leigh Russell King, Lincoln Street School, Northborough, Massachusetts.

Date of review: August 4, 2022