What Are You Doing, Benny?

PreS-Gr 1—A sweet story about how it's much more fun to do anything when you're deliberately not allowing a younger sibling to join. Benny is busy, but his little brother is desperately and inexpertly trying to convince Benny to let him join in. Each entreaty, no matter how convincing, is met with a resounding no. Mostly what Benny wants is to be followed around by his adoring little brother so that he can continue to say no. But even little brothers have their limits, and when Benny's little brother's patience is finally exhausted, it is up to Benny to make amends and, finally, maybe, say yes. Watercolor and gouache illustrations create a delicate and detailed background for the two fox brothers. The story is told in the first person, and the small black text grows in size as Benny's little brother becomes more and more frustrated. The expertly drawn facial expressions depict Benny's smug contrariness and his little brother's sad downcast eyes. Pages are often divided into small quarter panels to highlight the little brother's quick, excited questions and give perfect comedic timing to the inevitable "no." This is an excellent and realistic portrayal of the balance and kindness of sibling relationships.