ISBN 0688080138 - Printed in Hong Kong, because I'm trying to keep track! Since I just finished reading and reviewing ISBN 0807589330 Where Is the Bear?, I admit I opened this book with a sigh, expecting more disappointment. Where is Ben?, however, is a much better book.
Ben's mother is making an apple pie and asks him if he'd like to help. Instead, Ben announces that he's going to hide and his mother won't be able to find him. Each time he hides, Ben calls for her to come find him and his mother locates him with ease. She reminds him that, once the pie is in the oven, it will be naptime. Once naptime finally arrives, Ben goes to sleep without a struggle, knowing apple pie awaits him when he wakes.
Author Marisabina Russo makes no special effort to be super cute with her text or to force rhymes. This automatically lifts the book above many others. Mother and son share a fun and loving relationship, which is always good to see in childrens' books. The illustrations (no illustrator listed, I believe it's Russo herself) are nice, clean and brightly colorful, using shades outside the usual primary colors. This gives the illustrations of the rooms in Ben's home a realistic look, like a place a real person might actually live.
- AnnaLovesBooks
Ben's mother is making an apple pie and asks him if he'd like to help. Instead, Ben announces that he's going to hide and his mother won't be able to find him. Each time he hides, Ben calls for her to come find him and his mother locates him with ease. She reminds him that, once the pie is in the oven, it will be naptime. Once naptime finally arrives, Ben goes to sleep without a struggle, knowing apple pie awaits him when he wakes.
Author Marisabina Russo makes no special effort to be super cute with her text or to force rhymes. This automatically lifts the book above many others. Mother and son share a fun and loving relationship, which is always good to see in childrens' books. The illustrations (no illustrator listed, I believe it's Russo herself) are nice, clean and brightly colorful, using shades outside the usual primary colors. This gives the illustrations of the rooms in Ben's home a realistic look, like a place a real person might actually live.
- AnnaLovesBooks
