Benny and Penny in the Toy Breaker: Toon Books Level 2

by Geoffrey Hayes

Overview

Benny and Penny hide every toy and tell Cousin Bo he can't play with them. Will the three mice find a way to play without something getting torn, ripped, or snatched away?

Best-selling author Geoffrey Hayes thrills us with this hilarious tale of tiny cousins who discover a game that can't ever be ruined.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614791492
Publisher:	Spotlight
Publication date:	08/01/2013
Series:	Benny and Penny Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	36
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	BR (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Bestselling author Geoffrey Hayes has written and illustrated over forty children's books, including the extremely popular series of early readers Otto and Uncle Tooth, the classic Bear by Himself, the Patrick Bear books, and When the Wind Blew by Caldecott Medal-winning author Margaret Wise Brown.

His TOON Book series of Benny and Penny books has garnered multiple awards. In 2009, Benny and Penny in the Big No-No! received the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award given by the American Library Association for "the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English."

Editorial Reviews

Hayes demonstrates his keen appreciation of the politics of childhood as he shows how Benny and his younger sister Penny deal with a visit from their "toybreaker" cousin Bo. In humorous contrast to the emotion-packed story, Hayes's watercolor illustrations depict a cozy world reminiscent of Beatrix Potter.
—The Washington Post

Dave Burbank and Karen MacPherson

Gr 3—At last, Penny and Benny have a reason to get along. Cousin Bo has just arrived on the scene, which means that all of their toys are in imminent danger of being destroyed by their full-speed-ahead relative. They unite in an effort to hide or bury as many things as they can before he descends. Especially at risk is Benny's treasure map that leads to backyard "loot." Bo quickly discovers it and leads the two on a chase as he plays keep-away with it. When he engages in a tug-of-war over Penny's beloved monkey doll, a leg gets ripped off and Benny yells at him for his inability to "Play nice." Bo runs away in anger, but gets caught in a fence and can't free himself. By the end, all has been forgiven. Even Bo redeems himself when he presents Monkey with a get-well card. The cartoon expressions on the characters are priceless and easily "read" by nonreaders. Children will pore over the appealing illustrations and enjoy checking out the interactive website that is dedicated to the Toon characters.—Maggie Chase, Boise State University, ID

School Library Journal

The popular and Geisel Award-winning mouse sibs (Benny and Penny in the Big No-No!, 2009) meet their greatest challenge yet when hard-playing, toy-breaking cousin Bo saunters over for a visit. Ignoring their efforts to stonewall him, Bo aggressively messes up the sandbox, snatches Benny's homemade treasure map away and generally makes a nuisance of himself while sneering "Oh, are you going to tell your Mommy?" Eventually the tables turn when Bo needs help getting un-stuck from a hole in the fence, and by the end he shows preliminary signs of acquiring better socialization skills. All three furry playmates sport eloquent eyebrows and other easy-to-spot emotional markers in Hayes's sunny backyard scenes-and even prereaders may note that when toys get broken here, it's while Benny or Penny are trying to grab them out of Bo's hands. A thought-provoking episode just right for the I Can Read set. (Graphic early reader. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews