Who of us has not experienced a sting of pain when we thought we were the best at something – and suddenly the crown was passed on to somebody else? Lenny was the forest jumping champion, until Benny arrived on the scene and beat him big time, and Lenny decided that his opponent cheated and called him a liar, and it turned into a terrible quarrel, and then Benny paid him back. How insulting and painful it is to have a friend “fire” you, and how easily the pain translates into anger and righteousness, feelings that are well reflected in the illustrations and text (partly illustrated itself). And on Benny birthday, the book’s climax, a closed double-spread serves as the door to the house of the guest of honor, which opens into a huge double-spread filled with heartbreaking emotion.
2019 | 32 pp. | Age 3-6 | English translation available | Rights Sold: English (world), Russian, Chinese, Korean, Hebrew
40,000 English edition copies sold in a pre-sale in the USA
“The book touches upon a true problem in the world of every child (and every childish adult) the comparison made between them and other children – and describes it with precision and directness, without being coquettish or likeable, and without a single redundant word The wonderful ending leaves much room for hope, as well as a license for patience and imagination. A great book for ages 3-6.” – Atara Ofek, children’s writer and editor
“This is an especially important story that discusses an issue which children’s literature ignores completely, and while many are the stories that follow the failures of characters, this story illustrates to us that a successful child is as vulnerable as a failed child.” – Dr. Shai Rodin
Naama Benziman is an acclaimed illustrator, author, editor, curator and lecturer at Israel’s most prestigious visual arts academies. Her artwork has been featured throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia. She is an award-winning artist, and her children’s books have been highly praised by critics. Winner of the 2018 IBBY Honour Citation – the prestigious Andersen Children’s books Honour List.