Benny and Penny in The Big No-No - Reviewed By My Four Year Old

Review by Scott Tingley and Mariah

I am a terrible at telling true stories because I have an unnatural aversion to exaggerating. I say this so you will understand that what I say here is the 99.9% truth.

I wanted to write a review of the Toon Books comic for new readers Benny and Penny in The Big No-No by Geoffrey Hayes, but my daughter won't let me.

I got a copy of this upcoming release from Toon Books in the mail a few days ago and it has been in my four year olds room ever since. I have read it at least a dozen times by now. I tried sneaking it out this evening to help me with this review, but she wanted to read before going to sleep so I had to sneak it back. I guess I will have to quote the website for help on this one.

Benny and his sister Penny know it's wrong to sneak into someone else's backyard but their mysterious new neighbor—or is it a monster?—may be a thief. They go snooping and discover a lot about themselves and…a new friend. (From toon-books.com)

I like the cute characters (I love how the little platypus girl looks as she is preparing to throw a mudball…I can't remember her name and I don't have the book, remember?) and the effective storytelling. The smallish comic panels would make it a hard book to read to a group of kids, but it is perfect for reading with one or two kids gathered around you.

That's all I can say without having the book so I will quote my daughter:

This is my favorite book ever . – Mariah Tingley, age 4, reviewer for ComicsInTheClassroom.net

That sums it up perfectly.

The book is due out on May 05, 2009 and would be perfect for grades 1 and lower (on the other hand, some of my grade 3s last year really enjoyed the first book - even thought the reading level was not challenging for them, they still liked the art and story).

ISBN 13: 978-0-9799238-9-0
ISBN 10: 0-9799238-9-0

LEXILE LEVEL: GN 30

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