Customer Reviews

Benjamin's Book: Story and Pictures

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This book is about a hamster who accidently dirties the new page of his book. He tries all sorts of things to get the page clean, and of course nothing works. The illustrations are charming, and there is absolutely no text. You can describe what is going on or have the child tell what they see. My daughter "read" it when she was in first grade, and now as a senior in high school, she is still looking in the library for it, just one more time.

As a Christian mother of 8, I have always loved it when I have stumbled upon a children's book that (inadvertently?) teaches a profound biblical truth. This one has Benjamin, a well-meaning rabbit, opening up a book and admiring its perfectly white page. No sooner does he do this but he notices that his touching it has left a smudge. He tries to fix it and of course every effort of his own leaves the page worse off. It's a wonderful parable for teaching sin nature and the need for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Even Benjamin realizes that he can't fix this, he needs a new page. Also wonderful is how the book ends. Yes, Benjamin is given a new page. He decides he's going to leave it alone so it stays perfectly white. But after Benjamin leaves, the reader is treated to a look at the page. Sure enough it has small faint smudges. Yes, we still sin after salvation, it is God Who cleanses. Another book that is wonderful this way is The Carrot Seed, which is a great parable for faith and waiting on the Lord.