Benny and Penny in The Big No-No! by Geoffrey Hayes

I choose to start with Benny and Penny in the Big No-No! because it won the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award in 2010.  The first thing I noticed were the adorable illustrations!  A far cry from the Anime that kind of turns me off. 



How cute are they?!


I found that the story line about Benny and his little sister Penny was perfect for young readers!  A new neighbor moves in next door.  There is a misunderstanding but in the end the readers see Benny and Penny making a new friend.  The dialogue was pretty basic but there was age-appropriate mystery, drama, and humor that would surely capture the attention of pre-schoolers, kindergarteners, first graders, and some second graders.

Vocabulary: pail, mud pies, and various onomatopoeias (splop, yeow, etc.)

Close Reading Comprehension Questions:
Why do you think Benny hopes the new kid is a boy? p. 7
Why does Penny hope its a girl? p. 7
What do you suppose made those footprints? p. 11
How could Benny's pail have gotten into the other yard? p. 14
What do we know about the new girl? p. 22
How do we know the new girl didn't take Benny's pail? p. 23
What would you do if you were Benny? p. 25

I created a readers theatre script from the book.  With the many benefits of readers theatre, fluency, comprehension, and motivation, to name a few, I decided this would be the perfect use of the text. I actually got the idea to transform a graphic novel into a readers theatre script as a means to increase fluency.  Check out Terry Thompson's book Adventures in Graphica for more awesome ideas about using graphic novels.  Anyway, I take no credit for the script material including dialogue.  Geoffrey Hayes wrote it! I just turned it into a script.  I'm really hoping to use this next spring with some of my kindergarteners.  Feel free to try it also!  Let me know if your students enjoy it!

Overall, I found the story engaging.  I know that many kids are being motivated to read through the medium of graphic novels.  So, I'll embrace them!  Though the dialogue may seem simple at times, it is perfect for emergent readers and very young listeners.  I would recommend Benny and Penny in The Big No-No! to both readers and primary teachers.