Benny and Penny in Lost and Found: Toon Books Level 2

by Geoffrey Hayes, Geoffrey Hayes (Illustrator)

Overview

Geoffrey Hayes, winner of the Geisel for Benny and Penny in the Big No-No!, tells the story of two tiny mice who learn what it takes to be a leader. School Library Journal declares, "Once again, Hayes has created a graphic novel that is inviting, relatable, but, most importantly, fun."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781935179641
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	08/05/2014
Series:	Toon: Benny and Penny
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,129,144
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	GN360L (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

The text is easily accessible to emerging readers, with simple, repeating words, while also enforcing ideas about controlling emotions and being responsible for one’s actions without being overbearing. Children will easily relate to Penny and Benny as they grapple with sibling issues that are very real to this age group. The crafty charm of Hayes’s illustrations gives the book a timeless feel, while sleek panel variation and swooping action shots reestablish readers’s focus. Once again, Hayes has created a graphic novel that is inviting, relatable, but, most importantly, fun.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

With four delightful Benny and Penny titles already gallivanting around out there, Hayes’ work is a prime example of TOON’s high-level product. ... Hayes, as always, strikes exactly the right balance, allowing his characters to be both moody and reasonable, scared and courageous, appealing to young readers both as surrogates and role models. His art similarly hits the sweet spot dead-on, with mysterious shapes that are never too menacing, rounded and soothingly furry figures, and delicately rendered backgrounds filled with meticulous detail. His warmly classical picture-book technique never fails to be both animated and engaging as well.
—Booklist

Hayes’ colored-pencil panels keep their sunny charm even in the fog. These sweet sibs show no signs of growing old—thank goodness.
—Kirkus Reviews

The mouse siblings return for another stellar beginning reader adventure. ... Geoffrey Hayes strikes the right balance between comics-style panels and words that novice readers can figure out by sounding them out or by using visual clues he provides. He also taps into the emotional life of young children through Benny and Penny's interactions, getting the dynamics down with precision and authenticity. ... Here's hoping for more from this loving mouse family.
—Shelf Awareness (starred review)

From the Publisher

★ 08/01/2014
K-Gr 2—In their newest adventure, Penny finds her brother Benny sulking on the front stoop. Benny has lost his favorite hat and has been kicked outside by their mother for being in such a bad mood. Angry at his mother and his misplaced hat, Benny decides to run away from home and try to find his missing hat, with Penny's assistance. Benny insists on leading the way because he's older, but soon gets lost himself; only after Benny calms down can he and Penny find their way back. The text is easily accessible to emerging readers, with simple, repeating words, while also enforcing ideas about controlling emotions and being responsible for one's actions without being overbearing. Children will easily relate to Penny and Benny as they grapple with sibling issues that are very real to this age group. The crafty charm of Hayes's illustrations gives the book a timeless feel, while sleek panel variation and swooping action shots reestablish readers's focus. Once again, Hayes has created a graphic novel that is inviting, relatable, but, most importantly, fun.—Peter Blenski, Greenfield Public Library, WI

School Library Journal

2014-06-29
Gently bickering mouse siblings Benny and Penny have another backyard adventure, this time when they search for Benny's lost pirate hat.As the book opens, Benny is in a real funk—"a BAD mood!" His pirate hat is lost again, this time for two days. Mommy says he needs to stay outside until his good mood is restored. Equal parts helpful and hindering, Penny tags along on his quest, the fog-enshrouded backyard presenting a landscape it's all too easy to imagine getting lost in. Over the course of this brief, comic-book story, the children explore a number of valences of lost and found. Benny loses Penny when she darts into the underbrush, having found her lost jump rope. He instructs her, "we need to be lost together." When Penny frets that they are "REALLY lost," Benny insists they aren't: "We are right here." Hayes also takes the opportunity to explore preschoolers' mercurial emotions. The sibs are effective emotional foils for each other, Penny's buoyant cheer grating on Benny's determined dudgeon before she becomes anxious, then angry, then sad and frightened. Benny's brave decision to be in a good mood marks a literal turning point, bringing the little lost mice home again. Hayes' colored-pencil panels keep their sunny charm even in the fog.These sweet sibs show no signs of growing old—thank goodness. (Graphic early reader. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews