The Fantastic 5 & 10 Cent Store

August 30, 2010
Lewis (First Dog) and Fisher (When Ruby Tried to Grow Candy) use rebuses to introduce readers to a nearly extinct piece of Americana—the five-and-10-cent store—and the wonders held inside. Shopkeepers on Pumpkin Street are mystified when a new building appears; only bespectacled young Benny Penny (rendered as Ben plus a picture of a knee and a shiny copper coin) knows what kind of store it is. Laced with rebus images of numbers, letters, and assorted objects, Lewis’s sturdy verse describes the shenanigans taking place: “A toaster with flamingo wings/ Flew over, popping bread,/ A paintbrush dipped itself in green,/ Painting the ceiling red.” Fisher’s mixed-media panels combine photographic images of five-and-dime merchandise like steel wool and Vulcanol with the friendly figures of the proprietors, Mr. Nickel and Miss Dime. The rebuses appear opposite each image on yellowing lined paper, straight from a vintage school notebook, and for those having trouble guessing, the full text of the rhymes appears at the end of the book. Good, old-fashioned fun, with a surprise ending that reveals Benny’s talent for public relations. Ages 4–9.

May 1, 2011

K-Gr 3-In this whimsical and inventive picture book, Lewis expertly uses basic rebuses to tell a tale about a 5 & 10 cent store that, forgotten by the residents of the city, contains many treasures. Benny Penny discovers it and witnesses flying toasters, marching playing cards, and a race between a pot and a teapot. The child helps the owners, Mr. Nickel and Mrs. Dime, attract new customers and by the end of the book the townspeople have become regular customers of the special store. Lewis combines text and symbols to create a rhyming narrative, which helps aid in deciphering the rebuses. Children who like wordplay will especially enjoy this unique book. Fisher's mixed-media illustrations add to the intrigue and are ideally matched for the text. Vintage newspaper ads lend a touch of nostalgia and the rebus symbols and typeface are reminiscent of bygone eras. Readers who are unable to decipher the rebuses will be happy to discover the full text at the end of the book.-Shawn Brommer, South Central Library System, Madison, WI

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2010

When sun, rain and snowflakes collide, a strange store suddenly rises up at the end of Pumpkin Street. Benny Penny is the only one brave enough to walk through the door. Inside, he finds a fantastical adventure. Written in verse comparable only to Lewis Carroll, toasters fly, ketchup dances and the cup gets a little saucy with the saucer. The winsome pinnacle of bizarre is the Pot and Teapot race. Other objects--and readers, too--cheer them on. But what makes this tomfoolery even more appealing is that it is also in rebus form. The rebus verses set off one side of the spread, and Fisher's layered, diorama-style scenes envelop the other. Old clippings from five-and-dimes serve as wallpaper, and every label, on every item, is painstakingly detailed. While not ideal for just-emergent readers, those a little more advanced will likely embrace the game. A rebus poem by its very nature begs to be reread, but with ebullient wordplay and a nostalgic tug at the (admittedly adult) heart, this one will be especially hard to let go. (complete poem at end) (Picture book. 4-9)

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

October 1, 2010
Grades 1-2 After a new store mysteriously appears in town, young Benny Penny investigates the enchanted inventory of flying toasters and the surreal goings-on: The cup said to the saucer, You / Are quite a dish, my dear! / The calendar jumped off the wall / Because it was leap year. The thin plot and silly rhymes provide framework for what seems to be the books main attraction: a rebus-style text that combines words and pictures. The puzzles are creative (twice is created from the combination of TW and a picture of an ice cube); literal (a chicken picture signifies chicken); and occasionally unclear (is that an alligator or a crocodile?). Fortunately, a full key to the text appears at the back. The computer-manipulated style of Fishers mixed-media artwork jars against the Americana setting, and while Lewis makes a good stab at the nonsensical, he is no Edward Lear. The ending will please kids: with Bennys marketing moxie, customers are soon flooding in to purchase the magical merchandise.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)