Benny and Penny in just pretend

Benny and Penny in just pretend

Author & illustrator: Geoffrey Hayes

Graphic Novel

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Grade Level: Pre-K to 2^nd grade

Benny and Penny, the two siblings that just can’t seem to get along with each other. Benny wants to play a pretend pirate and Penny wants to join too. But Benny, as he is the oldest, does not want Penny to be part of his pretend game. She asks him to give him a “huggy” and he says NO! She asks if she could just look at his pirate ship, he says NO! Whatever she asks, he says no. He starts hiding from her just, so he could get away from her. He hides on top of the tree, under the rock and under the hat. But every time he hides. She always finds him. Annoyed and frustrated, he asks Penny to hide inside a box. He goes back to playing on his pirate ship telling himself that he will check on her after he is done playing a pirate. He plays for a long time without any disturbance from Penny which worries him. He goes back to look for her in the box and she is not there. He worries and searches everywhere. He acts tough but at the same time, he is scared that Penny is nowhere to be found. He goes back to the box and finds Penny. He is surprised at first but then Penny tells him that she had to leave for a while. Benny is happy that he found her and asks Penny if she would like to join him on the pirate ship. To which she replies, YES!

Thoughts:

“You are a dumb, bad little sister”

Well, this took me back when my brothers refused to play with me. So cruel yet that’s how siblings are. This is a fun book. It simple yet it is pack full of message. First of all, it is realistic fiction although told from a perspective of a rat siblings. It is because readers can clearly relate to brother and sister relationship. Second, though sisters are a little pest (I know because I was one) brothers may act like they don’t care but deep inside…they do. Third, siblings always find a way to get on each other nerves but also get along at the same time. The illustrations are great. The pages are carefully paneled, and each bubble holds only a sentence or one or two words, so it is easily readable. Students can read this book and get inspired to make their little graphic novel. That will certainly be a fun activity to do in class. Great book!