Benny Shark Goes to Friend School

PreS-Gr 2—Benny Shark has a big problem—he's a big bully. And everything about Benny is writ large. Benny's actions and emotions are overwhelming, the images of underwater antics are rendered in close-up even though they're simple digital comics, and the big speech balloons make it seem like every word Benny utters is shouted. Benny the shark is a meanie, using his bull shark stature to push other fish around, until Janice Jellyfish decides to set him straight by taking him to Friend School, a place where one learns to be exactly what the name implies. Arriving at Friend School, Benny is presented with a series of rules and challenges—be a good listener, tell the truth, share, take turns, and be a good sport. In the end, Janice's unflagging kindness to the reluctant Benny proves incentive enough for him to truly learn his lesson. The (literal) chalkboard lessons, and Benny's snarky responses to them, are good fodder for classroom discussions on following rules and respecting classmates, and an interesting, if imperfect, examination of following the letter, versus the spirit, of the rules set for a child's social environment.