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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The Girl In the Castle Inside the Museum

Article by Scott Tingley - March 02, 2008

The Girl In the Castle Inside the Museum is one of the most beautifully illustrated children’s books I have seen in an awfully long time.

I usually don’t cut to the chase like this, but sometimes I don’t need to get cute with a book. In this instance I will put the goofiness aside and say that in a million years I would not be able to tell you how artist Nicoletta Ceccoli created these amazing pictures. They look like photographs of porcelain dolls (really pretty ones, not the really creepy ones) specially manufactured just for this one book. I could also say that Ceccoli found a portal to another world inhabited by beautiful, living porcelain dolls, but that would be too comic-booky for my kid’s book blog and it would let in too much goofiness, and I said there would be no goofiness. Ceccoli has illustrated a magnificent world with a magical castle filled with living toys and one lonely girl. Magnificent.

So I like the pictures. So what? Any elementary teacher that has been around for a while knows that you can get really well written books with sub-par pictures and beautifully illustrated books written with grinding dullness. No fancy pictures can make up for a boring story. So, has The Girl In the Castle Inside the Museum writer Kate Bernheimer created a tale worthy of its pictures or not? Sort of, yes. It is hard to compete with the pictures, but I like the story a lot, and so does my little girl. It is nearly as haunting as its pictures. It is an imaginative new fairy tale that uses a couple of clever tricks to engage its young readers (for instance, here is the picture my three year old daughter drew of herself to put in the frame in the book. It was a nice touch that she enjoyed). The whole thing is a little disturbing in an Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz sort of way. I think when I share this with my grade three class that will actually be one of the main draws. Kids like a bit of edge, a bit of darkness every now and then in their literature and movies. It helps them make sense of the world around them and they will be able to relate to the loneliness of the girl.

Wild, creepy, good stuff. It looks like a book only girls would like, and they may be the target audience, but this thing is so odd that I think boys would be drawn in as well. A sure hit with girls, and maybe a bit more of a hard-sell with the guys.

· Price: $19.99

· ISBN: 978-0-375-93606-7 (0-375-93606-8)
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