Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* The clever bear and his assorted crew of animal pals from Benjamin Bear in Fuzzy Thinking (2011) return for another collection of single-page strips, each one a marvel of economy in setup, delivery, and payoff. Describing any one of the jokes would kill the humor like any great comedy, they need to be experienced, not explained but as a whole, Coudray's gags rely on unlocking often subtle and always surprising visual cues, subverting expectations with inventive solutions to small predicaments, and at times, falling back on simple and sublime absurdity. That the punch lines can be sophisticated, though never out of reach, makes getting the jokes all the more empowering for young readers. The cleanly articulated lines, stoic but cuddly critters, and simple coloring could have come from just about any era and, indeed, the artist has been working for decades in his native France but feel right at home in this one. Honing a well-rounded sense of humor may be just as important as any other aspect of childhood learning, and you'll find no finer choice for that than the ingenious exploits of this very clever bear.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-Each page is a new comic-book adventure with hilarious Benjamin Bear, his companion Rabbit, and many other forest friends. Kids will laugh out loud at Benjamin as he solves problems in zany, often misguided, ways. Sure to get a giggle: Rabbit bets him that he can't bring him a squirrel so Benjamin uproots the whole tree and carries it to his friend. The artwork was created using India ink and colored digitally to excellent effect; the animals' expressions are perfectly rendered and the pictures are sometimes the whole story, in a couple of wordless comics. A funny, smart little book that is definitely interesting enough to hold the attention of reluctant readers.-Alison Donnelly, Collinsville Memorial Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Encapsulated in each of twenty-seven one-page comic-strip dramas, Benjamin Bear's world is one of challenges both philosophical and physical. Or should that be physics-al? Plagued by fleas in "Spring Cleaning," Benjamin ties himself to a tethered rope, runs quickly to its end, and lets momentum do its job on the pests. As far as the philosophical goes, does one gaze into a mirror out of vanity, as Benjamin's rabbit friend suggests in "Reflection," or, as Benjamin replies, are we simply trying to see ourselves as others do? New readers will be served by the balance of story between speech bubbles and (needfully exact) illustrations; sometimes one provides the payoff and sometimes the other, but comprehension of both together is always required. Like Benjamin Bear in "Fuzzy Thinking" (rev. 11/11), this book rewards what six-year-olds are already good at (scrutiny), encourages a new skill (reading), and enlarges the imagination (heaven). roger sutton (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A companion to Benjamin Bear in Fuzzy Thinking (2011), 27 more wise and witty minimalist fables drawn (with added dialogue and other minor changes) from French cartoonist Coudray's original series. Presented, mostly, in three to six cleanly drawn panels, each mini-tale features Benjamin (Barnab in the original French) and one or more smaller animals interacting in outdoorsy settings. Most of the storytelling is visual, with just an occasional comment in a balloon, and many of the single-page episodes have an Aesopian flavor. In "Can I Get a Ride?" he picks up one woodland hitchhiker after another until, in the last panel, tables turn and they have to carry him. In "See-Saw," he "helps" a fox carry a log (and demonstrates a principle of physics) not by lifting the long end, but by hopping onto the short end. In response to a rabbit's philosophical proposition that you can't make "Something out of Nothing," he makes a hole and a pile of dirt: "TWO things!" In a deft comment on narcissism, Benjamin agrees to let the rabbit paint his portrait around the trunk of a tree--so that the image ends up staring at its own butt. Emergent readers won't be the only audience delighted by these winning combinations of humor and thought-provoking twists. (Graphic early reader. 4-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
