Hayes, the Geisel Award–winning creator of the Benny and Penny stories (Benny and Penny in the Big No-No, 2009, etc.) introduces a new character in this collection of short graphic stories. Patrick, a young bear, goes on a picnic with his mother that ends up taking place inside due to rain, learns to deal with a bully and takes—or doesn't take—a nap. The vocabulary is just right, featuring many of the sight words that kids in kindergarten and first grade are expected to know, and the softly colored cartoon format is appealing. The fact that it's a collection makes it even more accessible—ambitious readers can tackle the whole thing at once; those just starting out can read one at a time. However, the content seems a bit young for the intended audience; those ready to read this are long past naptime, and Patrick's best friend still seems to be his mother, making this perhaps a better choice for kids learning to read at an especially young age rather than the early-elementary crowd. For the most part, though, the format, vocabulary and art work well here to encourage kids to read on their own and have fun doing it. (Graphic early reader. 4-6)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-935179-09-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: TOON/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Feb. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A visually formatted joke book to inspire thinking as well as laughs. (Graphic early reader. 4-6)
Benjamin Bear deals with life in his own straightforward way.
When Benjamin’s friends goldfish and canary both express a desire to see "what's under the sea," Benjamin comes up with a way to grant their wish: He puts goldfish in canary’s cage and canary in the up-ended goldfish bowl full of air. Both enjoy their trip. When Benjamin can’t quite bring himself to leap off a cliff wearing his hang glider, he enlists an unfriendly dog to chase him over the edge. When friend fox won’t play tennis with him, Benjamin lobs the ball at fox’s head…and it comes right back, just like in the game. In single-page skits of two to seven panels each, Benjamin solves problems and entertains himself and his friends with inimitable style and seriousness. Toon Books continues its new (and award-winning) series of early readers in graphic-novel format by introducing American audiences to Coudray’s eccentric Benjamin Bear. In France, he’s known as Barnabé, and he’s starred in 12 collections for young readers since 1997. Courdray’s droll vignettes in a muted palette will be the perfect enticement for those with a visual sense of humor who are just starting to read.
A visually formatted joke book to inspire thinking as well as laughs. (Graphic early reader. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-935179-12-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: TOON/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Emergent readers won’t be the only audience delighted by these winning combinations of humor and thought-provoking twists.
A companion to Benjamin Bear in Fuzzy Thinking (2011), 27 more wise and witty minimalist fables drawn (with added dialogue and other minor changes) from French cartoonist Coudray’s original series.
Presented, mostly, in three to six cleanly drawn panels, each mini-tale features Benjamin (Barnabé in the original French) and one or more smaller animals interacting in outdoorsy settings. Most of the storytelling is visual, with just an occasional comment in a balloon, and many of the single-page episodes have an Aesopian flavor. In “Can I Get a Ride?” he picks up one woodland hitchhiker after another until, in the last panel, tables turn and they have to carry him. In “See-Saw,” he “helps” a fox carry a log (and demonstrates a principle of physics) not by lifting the long end, but by hopping onto the short end. In response to a rabbit’s philosophical proposition that you can’t make “Something out of Nothing,” he makes a hole and a pile of dirt: “TWO things!” In a deft comment on narcissism, Benjamin agrees to let the rabbit paint his portrait around the trunk of a tree—so that the image ends up staring at its own butt.
Emergent readers won’t be the only audience delighted by these winning combinations of humor and thought-provoking twists. (Graphic early reader. 4-6)Pub Date: March 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-935179-22-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: TOON/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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