Senor Parrot's Perch

Benny And Penny in Just Pretend by Geoffrey Hayes is a fantastic book. Two little mice, brother and sister, fill the pages of this little book that kids will love. Older Benny wants to play alone at being pirates. His younger sister Penny wants to play together. So Benny, in a pique, tries to ditch her, so he can play by himself. After all, girls are cry-babies, not bold pirates. A lot of funny hiding and seeking ensues. Finally, giving in, they encounter a scary dragonfly as they crawl through the tall grass, and it is brave Penny who saves the day.

The pictures can easily tell this story all on their own. Each page is a magnet for your eyes with simple details and layouts that are beautifully drawn. The expressions Hayes has put on their faces are perfect.

The book is easy to read, that is, the writing level is perfectly aimed at the beginning reader level. I was surprised, though, that my younger daughter, age seven, had trouble with this book, and initially didn’t like it. Generally, she can’t resist a well illustrated, funny story for even 10 seconds, but that didn’t happen. It turned out that she was  completely unfamiliar with the graphic layout of the book, with is word bubbles and brief, occasional narratives in boxes here and there. The story layout is not completely linear like the stories she was familiar with. She was confused by the story layout on the page. So I sat down with her and we read through it together while I pointed out to her the flow within the pages. She soon fell in love with this book and it’s wonderfully drawn story. Now, she wants the other books in the series,  as well.

Here is a sample page from Benny And Penny in Just Pretend by Geoffrey Hayes. I snagged these pictures from Geoffrey Hayes’ website where you can  find all the details you need to convince you to go out and buy each of the Benny and Penny books for your own kids, grand kids, and as birthday presents for your kids’ friends. These books are treasures.

Geoffrey Hayes has won lots of acclaim for these books. Benny And Penny in Just Pretend has won these honors:

• Booklist Top 10 Graphic Novels for Youth
• Iowa Goldfinch Award
• Maryland Blue Crab Young Readers Honor Book
• Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books of the Year

There are two other books in the Benny and Penny series; Benny And Penny in The Big No-No
picked up these honors:

• 10 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Winner
• ALSC 2010 Notable Books for Children
• Kirkus Reviews Best of 2009 Continuing Series

And the newest addition, Benny and Penny in the Toy Breaker , has been chosen as a A Junior Library Guild Selection.

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Related posts:

1. And the Winners Are… the ALA announces the winners of the Caldecott and Newberry Awards
2. Best of the Best Science Books for Children and Young Adults – Children’s Science Picture Books

This entry was posted on Friday, July 2nd, 2010 at 4:39 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.