Benny on the Beach

by Diego Arandojo

At first, Benny isn't too excited about spending a day on the beach. But what happens when the young boy digs up a living, breathing woolly mammoth? Find out in this wordless graphic novel where the artwork brings the story to life.

Genres: Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2020

About the author

Se inició como dibujante y guionista de cómics. Luego egresó del IDAC (Avellaneda) como realizador cinematográfico; y del ISER (Buenos Aires) como guionista de televisión, obteniendo la medalla de oro y de plata por los mejores promedios.
En literatura publicó “Cuentos macabros para sonámbulos” (2004), “Pecados para compartir” (2005), “Esquina 718” (2009 y 2010, junto con Chino Volpato), “Manu en la playa” (2010, cómic editado en Europa junto con Ed Carosia) y “Bastón de Mando, un secreto guardado durante 30 años” (2014).
Como guionista ha desarrollado más de 11 series documentales para Canal Encuentro, entre ellas “Caudillos”, “Batallas de la libertad”, “Alto Rendimiento” y “Presidentes Argentinos”, por ésta última obtuvo en 2012 el premio a “Mejor serie documental” otorgado por Argentores.

En 2015 se estrenaron las series "Güemes" y "La Era de los Caciques", que cuentan con guiones de su autoría.
Junto a Chino Volpato escribió las obras de teatro “El Reportero” (con las actuaciones de Fabián Vena y Eduardo Blanco) y “Vivir Desconectados” (con las actuaciones de Jorge Sassi y Elías Viñoles) representadas durante 2011 y 2013.
Ha dirigido los largometrajes documentales “30 años de silencio” (2013) y “Opium, la Argentina Beatnik” (2014-2105) y "Alcatena" (2015). Actualmente trabaja con el grupo de arte LOGIA 933, con sede en Valencia, España, desarrollando audiovisuales y contenidos diversos.

Reviews

[Etienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute wordless comic book for children. Like I said cute but a bit pointless also. In my opinion this is for very very young children, just to have fun with a book, familiarize with it and learn the left to right direction of reading. Honestly i would give it 2/5, but if you consider to educational aspect of getting into book for very young age 2-3 years old, then this could deserve a 3,5/5. maybe 4/5, so i round it up to a fair 3/5.

[April Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute story of a boy named Benny, who visits the beach with his parents and somehow manages to dig up a mammoth and make friends with it. They have some adventures, pick up trash off the beach, and generally have silly fun. Then it's time for Benny to go home, and they say their goodbyes (though the goodbyes might not be final). The artwork is really fun, with a quirkiness to it, and little details to find. At the end, there are questions about the story to encourage young readers to learn to "read" the illustrations, making this a good introduction to graphic novels for kids.

#WordlessGraphicNovelBennyontheBeach #NetGalley

[Emily Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really fun book and was enjoyed by my kids and myself. I loved the addition of the questions in the back. Very curious about the other books in the series. I received a digital review copy from Netgalley.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Benny on the Beach' with story and illustrations by Ed and Diego Arandojo is a wordless story for young readers.

Benny goes to the beach with his parents. At first he is bored, but then he digs up a woolly mammoth. From there the story takes all kinds of imaginative twists and turns. What happens when Benny has to say goodbye to his new woolly friend?

The book is a basic graphic novel and would work well for little kids to read a story to themselves. The story is fun and the illustrations are simple enough for young eyes.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Capstone and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Holly Letson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not truly as a "wordless" comic as it was billed, because it does show his mother calling out his name at the end of the story.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book that shows its cartoonish, childish approach as a virtue, with a young lad at the beach who digs up a woolly mammoth. Yup, it's best not to ask. Parents won't exactly love the book for the irresponsible damage that happens – surfboards get stolen, sand castles trodden on, climbing frames demolished – but the young will perhaps like this more. It's not quite a wordless graphic novel, as it attests, for there are a lot of sound FX that have been translated from the original and that are there for us to read. But in the way Shaun the Sheep films are 'silent', so this is too a gentle, untaxing, knockabout comedy. Two and a half stars.

[Jess Smiley · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Benny goes to the beach, he is surprised to make a new friend. Together, Benny and his new friend explore the many exciting creatures and aspects of the beach and shore. When it’s time to go, Benny is sad to say goodbye to his new friend...but he might not have to say goodbye, after all. A funny, colorful story for young readers, packed with visual gags and memorable characters.

[Patricia]

I'm not the target demographic for this so it feels a bit weird to rate it.