Benny and the Binky

This book is wonderful. I often read to my children, but have never laughed out loud. By the end of the book I had tears streaming down my face, and my 3 year old yelling, "Daddy, stop laughing!" This is a wonderful story of a young pig who sees something he wants, and goes after it. It is real, it is fun, and the illustrations fit the text beautifully. Don't pass up the opportunity to meet Benny and his Binky.

This book just grows and grows on you. The text is simple enough for the youngest toddler, and the illustrations make it so funny that you will not mind the repeated requests for "read it again!" Every kid and adult can identify with the myriad kidlike emotions in this book. Get it.

Benny and the Binky is a very funny book written in a wonderfully simplistic way that I'm sure children would love. The illustrator is brilliant, and Benny's expressions are just priceless. You will laugh out loud at the "three tough pigs." For those of you who find it appalling that the three tough pigs want to punch Benny in the snout -- perhaps you should stick with gentler classics such as "Little Red Riding Hood." Benny and the Binky is just plain fun for kids and adults.

Benny and the Binky. By Barbro Lindgren. Illustrated by Olof Landstrom. R & S Books, 2002. 24 pages. [money](Preschool) A binky may be the only thing that calms a screaming baby pig, but the excruciation of growing out of that binky is the ingenious subject of the irresistibly hilarious Benny and the Binky by Olof Landstrom (Benny's had enough, 9/99). Benny finally has the new baby brother he has been waiting for. But all Benny's new sibling does is scream - until he receives a binky from his mother. Now Benny wants one too, but he's told he's too old. This causes Benny to "steal" his brother's binky and hit the road, but he soon realizes why he's too old when several groups ridicule him during his adventures for being some "kind of oddball". The comedy of Benny's journey (with binky in mouth) comes through the cast of characters he meets along the way, including "three tough pigs with soccer shoes (on)." They are shown preparing to chase Benny, each in a three-point stance, in the masterfully done illustration that tells the story even better than the text itself. Each character's personality is colorfully brought to life as each page is turned. Unlike the classic picture books, Benny and the Binky uses modern-day concepts and ideas, such as a dog working on a laptop computer and listening to headphones, in a progressively entertaining way. As all of us have a favorite picture book from our childhood, I feel that many of today's preschool aged children will someday look back at this book with the same fond memories. At the same time I, as a 28-year-old man, had several entertaining laughs at the "corky" humor throughout this book and will enjoy reading it to my children.

My 2yr old loves this book. Her favorite thing to do is sit down and read books with me. This is a book that she has me read over and over. We have discussed the incident where the pigs hit Benny's snout and the dog says he's going to bite their knuckles off and she understands that it is wrong or as she likes to put it, "naughty". My daughter is very attached to her binky (nay nay) and adores this book and I myself find it very cute.