I have never read a book like this before. I can see how it could help young readers develop a love for reading. It could help kids feel confident that they are reading books AND finishing them. Most of the story is told through the pictures with minimal talking (in word bubbles). My daughter thought the book was fun and she enjoyed looking at the pictures and making up the words to go with them. It opened up her "word" imagination vs her picture imagination. I thought that was super interesting.

Toon Books does a great job publishing graphic novels for the beginning reader set. This one is particularly delightful: each page is one scenario or comic strip as in the newspaper, with a single storyline and punchline, easily understood by children. There are a couple of head-scratchers (See-saw, The house, Bird-watching) but otherwise I think kids will enjoy this one. ( )

B This is a very cute story and a safe way to introduce the graphic novel concept to young readers. The pictures are detailed nicely and the text consists of simple sentences and lots of sight words. It will support emerging readers as the frames will help them track what is going on in the story.

Benjamin Bear, accompanied by his faithful rabbit friend, continues to share his observations and questions about the world around him. ( )

Probably our favorite Toon Book so far: Not a story, but a series of vignettes giving you something to chuckle at on every page. The jokes on these pages however, despite being so basic and simple that a 4-5 year old should be able to get it most of the time (at least with a little hint from the parent), are all the while amazingly clever and inventive. This is not crude, mean or slapstick humor, in the style of maybe [b:The Stupids |404977|The Stupids Die (The Stupids, #3)|Harry Allard|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348033279s/404977.jpg|1295781], or even [b:George and Martha|408766|George and Martha The Complete Stories of Two Best Friends|James Marshall|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1174504097s/408766.jpg|398070]. No, this is a gentle, thoughtful tale of friendship that both young and old will enjoy. Made me laugh out loud several times, and so did my son.

This could fall under "easy reader", it certainly is. It's not challenging though in any way, and does not in fact contain all that much text, as many of the gags are wordless. ( )