The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Reed, Lynn Rowe

Benny Shark Goes to Friend School

32 pp. | Amazon/Two Lions | July, 2017 | Trade ISBN 978-1-4778-2803-8 $17.99

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Rhode Montijo. Benny the bull shark is a bully without any friends. When Benny demands friendship from Janice Jellyfish, the wise invertebrate takes him to Friend School. Watercolor, pen-and-ink, and digital cartoons show well-meaning Benny's humorous misunderstanding of rules such as "#2: a friend always tells the truth" ("My, Janice, you are an ugly jellyfish"). The slight friendship primer ends on a sweet note at graduation.

Reviewer: Kari Allen