Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

It's bedtime for the mouseling brother and sister--but not before plenty of horsing around and a deliciously scary expedition into the backyard. As little Penny quietly tries to wash up and pretend-read a story ("One day the princess was sent to her room for being bratty. But she had a secret door…"), her restless big brother interrupts obnoxiously with warnings about the Boogey Mouse, loud belches and other distractions. When Benny realizes that he's left his prized pirate hat in the backyard, though, Penny braves the Boogey Mouse to follow him out of the window and prod him into reclaiming it from the spooky, dark playhouse. She also "reads" him to sleep after the two race, giggling at their fright, back indoors. Framed in sequential panels that occasionally expand to full-page or double-spread scenes, the art features a pair of big-eared, bright-eyed mites (plus the occasional fictive dinosaur) in cozy domestic settings atmospherically illuminated by the glow of lamps, Benny's flashlight and the moon. As in this popular series' earlier episodes, dialogue in unobtrusive balloons furnishes the only text, but the action is easy to follow, and Hayes provides plenty of finely drawn visual cues to the characters' feelings. Another outing positively radiant with child appeal, featuring a pair of close siblings with complementary personalities. (Graphic early reader. 5-7)

ALA Booklist (Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

In the mouse siblings' fourth book (Benny and Penny in the Big No-No! won a Geisel Award in 2010), Hayes brings beginning readers into the magic hour that precedes lights-out for the night. Sliding from bedtime story inspired flights of imagination to flashlight-enabled frights to a secret journey outside to rescue a favorite toy from the dark of the playhouse, Benny and li'l sis Penny exhaust themselves as only children know how. As with all TOON books, the pure charm of the story has the added bonus of introducing and richly contextualizing word recognition for the kind of terms kids need to know, like pirates, spooky, BURP!, and princess dinosaur (a perfect rendition of sibling compromise). Hayes' sense of the bouncing rhythms of children's play, grasp of sibling social dynamics in true-to-life scenarios, and especially his adorably huggable, crayon-colored characters have made him the standard-bearer of early-reader comics.

Horn Book

Benny can't sleep and keeps his sister Penny up, too. When Benny climbs out the window to look for his pirate hat, Penny follows in pursuit. The mouse siblings enjoy a good scare before going to bed. As in Benny and Penny's previous adventures, comic-book panels, a friendly palette of soft colors, simple speech bubbles, and a childlike escapade contribute to this book's appeal.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

It's bedtime for the mouseling brother and sister--but not before plenty of horsing around and a deliciously scary expedition into the backyard. As little Penny quietly tries to wash up and pretend-read a story ("One day the princess was sent to her room for being bratty. But she had a secret door…"), her restless big brother interrupts obnoxiously with warnings about the Boogey Mouse, loud belches and other distractions. When Benny realizes that he's left his prized pirate hat in the backyard, though, Penny braves the Boogey Mouse to follow him out of the window and prod him into reclaiming it from the spooky, dark playhouse. She also "reads" him to sleep after the two race, giggling at their fright, back indoors. Framed in sequential panels that occasionally expand to full-page or double-spread scenes, the art features a pair of big-eared, bright-eyed mites (plus the occasional fictive dinosaur) in cozy domestic settings atmospherically illuminated by the glow of lamps, Benny's flashlight and the moon. As in this popular series' earlier episodes, dialogue in unobtrusive balloons furnishes the only text, but the action is easy to follow, and Hayes provides plenty of finely drawn visual cues to the characters' feelings. Another outing positively radiant with child appeal, featuring a pair of close siblings with complementary personalities. (Graphic early reader. 5-7)

School Library Journal (Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

K-Gr 2 These mice siblings have very different approaches to bedtime. While Penny is following her mother's directions, brushing her teeth and settling into bed to read a story, Benny is too busy for such routines. When he looks out the window and cannot see the moon, he decides that pirates must have stolen it. After attempting to scare Penny with tales of the Boogey Mouse and dinosaurs, he decides that he might just go to bed after all. He realizes, however, that he has left his beloved pirate hat in the spooky playhouse, and he enlists Penny to help him retrieve it. Containing all of the classic problems that children sharing a bedroom face, this charming graphic novel is certain to delight Benny and Penny fans and find some new ones as well. Hayes's signature illustrations evoke dusk and evening time with the outdoor panels employing blues, purples, and grays while the indoor panels shine with bright yellow as if from a night-light. The mixture of sequential art and full-page panels adds to the movement of the story and will help early readers get a sense of its pacing. A fun addition to graphic-novel and bedtime-book collections. Stacy Dillon, LREI, New York City