About the Author

Kevin Henkes is the author and illustrator of more than fifty critically acclaimed and award-winning picture books, beginning readers, and novels. He received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten's First Full Moon in 2005, and Waiting won a Caldecott Honor and Geisel Honor in 2016. Kevin Henkes is also the creator of a number of picture books featuring his mouse characters, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers Lilly's Big Day and Wemberly Worried, the Caldecott Honor Book Owen, and the beloved Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. His most recent mouse character, Penny, was introduced in Penny and Her Song; her story continued in Penny and Her Doll and Penny and Her Marble (a Geisel Honor Book). Bruce Handy, in a New York Times Book Review piece about A Good Day, wrote, "It should be said: Kevin Henkes is a genius." Kevin Henkes received two Newbery Honors for novels-one for The Year of Billy Miller, and the other for Olive's Ocean. Also among his fiction for older readers are the novels Junonia, Bird Lake Moon, The Birthday Room, and Sun & Spoon. Kevin Henkes has been published by Greenwillow Books since the release of his first book, All Alone, in 1981. His fiftieth book, the picture book Egg, was published in January 2017. Most recently, he is the author of In the Middle of Fall, Winter Is Here, Summer Song, A Parade of Elephants, Sweeping Up the Heart, and Penny and Her Sled. He lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin. www.kevinhenkes.com.

Reviews

"Henkes continues to plumb the emotional world of childhood as few author/illustrators can. . . . Another gem."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Henkes conveys shades of emotions that are common to human experience, yet hard to express in words. It's particularly impressive that he can do so in a book for beginning readers. . . . This small-scale, yet immensely satisfying drama is a fine addition to the Penny series."--Booklist (starred review)
"Henkes ups the emotional stakes in his third book starring Penny."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Much as he did in Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Henkes presents an irrepressible heroine who struggles to compromise."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"The text . . . is perfect for new readers, and Henkes's familiar artwork has its share of warm moments. This early reader captures the way families make memories at unexpected moments. Welcome Penny to the cast."--Booklist (starred review)
"Carefully sequenced panels, expressive lines and gentle pastels lead the reader to the story's joyous resolution."--Washington Post
"Splendid . . . Henkes so completely understands the minds of small children. . . . His vivacious panels always seem to burst with springtime. It's hard to imagine anything ever going too wrong in one of his sensitive, generous portrayals. Everything here ends just right."--New York Times Book Review
"Impeccable. . . . Respect for the beginning reader's emerging skills beautifully matches Henkes's respect for Penny ."--Horn Book (starred review)
"Perfect for beginning readers. A treasure."--School Library Journal (starred review)
Praise for Penny and Her Song: "Henkes strikes all the right notes. . . . Language, art, characterization, and plot are all executed, like Penny's song, beautifully."--Horn Book (starred review)

PreS-Gr 2-In the latest installment in the series, the young mouse is pushing her doll's stroller down the block when she spies a marble on her neighbor's lawn. After furtively looking around, Penny drops it in her pocket and races home. At first she delights in her new treasure, enjoying how smooth it feels between her fingers and how fast it rolls across the floor, but then she is overcome with guilt for taking something that doesn't belong to her. Henkes's nuanced watercolor and ink illustrations capture the shame-filled mouse hiding behind curtains. As she continues to worry, she loses her appetite: "The oranges in the bowl looked like big orange marbles. The peas on her plate looked like little green marbles." After a dream-filled night, Penny decides to put the marble back where she found it. When confronted by Mrs. Goodwin, Penny's "cheeks were hot. She could not speak," but her kind neighbor reassures her that she put the marble on the grass hoping someone would pick it up. Readers will empathize with Penny and her conflicted emotions. The short sentences with plenty of repetition and superb pacing make this title perfect for beginning readers. A treasure.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.