'Benjamin Bear' was created by Eisner Award nominee Philippe Coudray and is the star of a series of books that collect one-page strips based on a particular subject. The title for this volume is Brain Storms and each cartoon features the brown bear and his forest friends solving tricky riddles (such as the brilliant method of proving that 4+4 can =9) and other problems such as how two people in separate cars can cross a river using only 5 stepping stones and still be able to drive on the other side.
Published by Toon Books, this volume is considered a 'level two' comic in that it's easy to read and is recommended for readers in grades 1 and 2. But I don't see older readers not delighting in this series as well. This book does have some punchlines and words that might be a little too difficult for younger readers to understand, so a parent, older sibling, or other guardian might need to help explain those.
The art is quite simple in that old-school Parisian style. One thing I must say about French cartoonists- they are simplistic to the Nth degree, yet they're every bit as imaginative and stunning as a Jack Kirby or Neal Adams. Oh- and though this is a French cartoon, it's published in English! So you can put away your handy dandy French-to-English dictionaries.
I found this 2015 book on the new arrivals shelf in children's section at my local library. There are two other volumes in the series thus far. I highly recommend this book and if the rest of this series is as good as this one- I tout them too! The Benjamin Bear books can be found new and used on Amazon. Prices vary but this volume starts at about $7 plus any shipping or tax costs.
Worth Consuming
Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.
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