Benton, Jim Books

Never Underestimate Your Dumbness (Dear Dumb Diary #7)

Jim Benton

Amazon Price: $4.99 List Price: $4.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Scholastic Paperbacks Amazon Marketplace: 38 new & used starting at $0.05

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Benton, Jim

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The wedding Dear Dumb Diary readers have been anxiously anticipating is about to become a reality: Jamie's aunt and Angeline's uncle joined together until death do they part -- or until the divorce Jamie has been feverishly wishing for since they started dating finally happens. Now, three of Jamie's most dreaded nightmares are about to be combined into one unbearable event:

1) Very VERY poofy brown dresses

2) Wedding clogs

3) A lifetime of being related to Angeline, a.k.a. Blondewad

Jamie has just one word for this kind of horror:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

PRAISE FOR JIM BENTON AND DEAR DUMB DIARY:

"What's new, what's cool: 'Dear Dumb Diary.' You'll laugh out loud at what this girl has to say." -- Knight Ridder Tribune

"This book's witty and satiric sense of humor is sure to resonate with kids and make these books a must-have." -- BIG BLUE DOT Trend Update

"Told in knee-slapping diary entries...Jim Benton delivers a wonderfully silly series that combines his knack for knowing what kids love to read with fun illustrations. Young audiences will eat up Jamie's diary descriptions...while parents are sure to see their kids beg for more Dumb Diary books." -- The Barnes & Noble Review

Can Adults Become Human (Dear Dumb Diary #5)

Jim Benton

Amazon Price: $5.99 List Price: $5.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Scholastic Paperbacks Amazon Marketplace: 66 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Benton, Jim

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

side splitting hilarious! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I love this line of books. They are all very entertaining. I couldn't stop laughing.

can adults become human (dear dumb diary #5) 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

My 10-year-old daughter , a picky reader, devoured this whole series. Easy to read, great illustrations, and absolutely hilarious. Book # 5 is just as funny as the first 4. I read them too. Laughed til I cried! Honestly!

LOL! Too funny! Love it! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

As you may or may not have known, jim benton, the happy bunny dude wrote these. there easy to read, and even my mom enjoys the series! I burst out laughing on every sentence. its too funny. all of my friends have borrowed the books, and they cabt let go of em! A must read.

So Entertaining! 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

L.O.L.! A hilarious adventure of Jamie Kelly! WHAT? Haven't read it? You're missing out on a lot! This one- the best of the whole series! Read this FUNNY, yes, the letters are capitalized, comedy of the great things Jamie does to live an interesting and funny life. Chao!

THIS BOOK IS GOOOD 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I loved this book! When i picked it up i could not put it down! I just keep on reading!!! I would recommend this book for everyone who love comedy books!!

Editorial Review:

Jamie go school.

School full savages.

Savages be mean Jamie.

Jamie teach hippo bite Angeline.

Good hippo.

Never Do Anything, Ever (Dear Dumb Diary #4)

Amazon Price: $4.99 List Price: $4.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Scholastic Paperbacks Amazon Marketplace: 114 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Benton, Jim

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

It was hilarious! 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This was the third book I have read by Jim Benton. It was very funny. The things that happen in the story are true life to girls especially. Most of the characters are girls but there are some boys. The drawings are really crazy and add a lot to the story. I have read the other Dear Dumb Diary books and they were good, but I like this one the best.

Not the best in the series, but still pretty entertaining 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

"Her best friend's a backstabber. Her worst enemy is a sweetheart. And her dog is just waiting for the right moment to seek his revenge. Why should Jamie even bother going to school?" This sneak preview pretty much sums up the trials and tribulations of Jamie Kelly. In this fourth installment, Jamie's sworn enemy Angeline gets into charity work and inspires Jamie and her best friend Isabella to develop some 'inner beauty' of their own. A mostly funny and occasionally charming tale that even teaches a valuable lesson at the end: Maybe we all have inner beauty. Give it a try.

Editorial Review:

Her best friend's a backstabber. Her worst enemy is a sweetheart. And her dog is just waiting for the right moment to seek his revenge. Why should Jamie even bother going to school? Why not? After a run-in with Mega-Popular Angeline, aka Pure Evil, Jamie reforms her selfish ways & becomes the decent human being she never thought she could be. But she quickly realizes that helping others kind of stinks. Is someone trying to thwart her attempts at irresistible inner beauty? Or will Jamie finally achieve the "I'm an angel" glow she knows will make Hudson Rivers fall madly in love w/ her?

My Pants Are Haunted (Dear Dumb Diary #2)

Amazon Price: $5.99 List Price: $5.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Scholastic Paperbacks Amazon Marketplace: 159 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Benton, Jim

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Giggles, a Diary, and a Girl 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Do you like funny books? I have a book that will crack you up! My book is called My Pants are Haunted. It is about a girl named Jamie Kelly who writes in her diary. She writes in her diary about school, her parents, her dog Stinker, her friend Isabella, a mean girl Angelina, and a boy she has a crush on named Hudson. She gets new pants for school. She gets holes in her pants. She gets really upset because they were her best pair of jeans. This book is a series. I think this is a funny book. So get down to your nearest book store and get this book.

Editorial Review:

They were just a soft, ordinary pair of thrift-shop jeans until Jamie Kelly tried them on . . . Then they became a tight, scratchy, slightly smelly, and utterly ordinary pair of thrift-shop jeans with an embarrassing haunting problem. Do the pants have the power to soothe a vengeful beagle, vanquish The Prettiest Girl in the World, or make the wearer irresistible to the eighth cutest guy in the grade? Are the haunted pants so dazzling they can hurt and maybe permanently damage the eyes of onlookers? Or are the haunted pants just, well, haunted (which is kind of gross when you think about it)?

Franny K. Stein's Crate of Danger (Boxed Set): Lunch Walks Among Us; Attack of the 50-Ft. Cupid; The Invisible Fran; The Fran That Time Forgot (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist)

Amazon Price: $10.19 List Price: $14.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Aladdin Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $7.69

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The Frantastic voyage & the fran with 4 brains 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

My boys are 4 and 6 and they loves these. My 6 yr old can read them with no problem but they like for me to read to them both and we got The Fran with Four Brains just yesterday and they had me read the entire book to them last night. They are excited about the fact that i have ordered them this boxed set, and when it comes I am sure we will be reading them till we have read them all. I hope the author starts more in this series of books so they can continue to have a Great series that they enjoy that pulls u right in.

Editorial Review:

Franny K. Stein is not your average girl -- she's a mad scientist. She prefers poison ivy to daisies and piranha to goldfish, and when Franny jumps rope, she uses her pet snake.

Being a mad scientist is exciting, but it does have its drawbacks. From fending off giant monstrous fiends to getting a lab assistant to battling her own teenage self, Franny has her hands full! Join her on her first four wacky, weird, creepy adventures and find out why Franny is everyone's favorite mad scientist.

Books in this set include:

Lunch Walks Among Us

Attack of the 50-Ft. Cupid

The Invisible Fran

The Fran That Time Forgot

Am I the Princess or the Frog? (Dear Dumb Diary #3)

Amazon Price: $5.99 List Price: $5.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Scholastic Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 99 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Benton, Jim

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A really good and funny book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book is really funny, because there are a lot a twists. (A lot of things that you would not think would happen) I have never read a series that is so funny! So if you do get ths book you might want to get book # 1,2 first. This is a great book!

A Hilarious Book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Am I the Princess or the Frog is a funny book. It is a girl named Jamie Kelly and her diary. In the book she goes through many obstacles. Her mother is a very bad cook, but she doesn't know it. Jamie Kelly also has a friend named Isabella who tends to be a little mean sometimes. They both go to "Mackerel Middle School". Their enemy is Angeline who is pretty and perfect. Jamie Kelly has a crush on Hudson (the seventh cutest guy in school). In the book she gets notes from a secret admirer. Who could it be? You'll have to read the book to find out. This book is for girls ages eight and up. It is a great book.

Editorial Review:

Jamie is crushing on Hudson. Someone too-gross-to-be- named is crushing on Jamie. And Hudson is crushing on . . . Princess Turd of Turdsylvania (a.k.a. The Prettiest Girl in the World). Middle school may be grim, but it's no fairy tale. And crazy doesn't even begin to cover it.

The Fran with Four Brains (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist)

Amazon Price: $4.99 List Price: $4.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Aladdin Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $0.02

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Benton, Jim

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Jim Benton does it again! 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This is the sixth book in the Franny K. Stein series and it is just as great as all the others. My 10 year old daughter has been reading Franny K. Stein books for the past several years and has enjoyed this one tremendously. Highly recommended.

Fran's War Against the Machines, Another Great Adventure in This Sensational Series! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

The Fran With Four Brains is book six in this great series of adventures following one of the most interesting and well written child characters to come along in a very long time. For those who have only read this great book and are wondering which of Benton's former books in the series to buy first, I'd recommend Jim Benton's first three Franny K masterpieces Lunch Walks Among Us, Attack of the 50-Ft. Cupid or The Invisible Fran.

I work as a library assistant and when I have asked kids if they enjoyed this and other books in this series the answer is always yes. That's pretty rare for a series of books, but this series is that good! I've checked these books out myself to see what all the fuss is about. These books all can be enjoyed by adults as well as kids, a feat not always done by junior fiction writers, even with the really popular amongst kids books. I didn't read these in order either as there's a long wait for some titles, so I'll point out they all have individual storylines so if this is the first book you've come across it can easily be read first.

Franny Stein is an interesting character who doesn't follow the stereotype little girl who plays with dolls, has tea parties with stuffed animals and the like that many authors seem to want to write about. No Franny is a very intelligent girl more interested in bats, snakes, spiders, monsters and her number one passion, being a mad scientist. Interests that gel with many a real life boy or girl these days and lets be honest, always have. The length of these books are fairly short and take my word for it these books are so good you'll probably want to get a few of them, if not the whole series. They seem to be a lot cheaper buying as a box set (where you get the first four titles, obviously not including this one) which at the time of this review seems to retail for about the same price as just two Franny K. Stein books.

In her sixth adventure Franny is getting frustrated that her mother is forcing her to spend more and more time on activities away from her lab, such as soccer, cooking and playing the bagpipes. She comes up with a brilliant plan and creates three robot versions of herself. She instructs them to master the tasks while she concentrates on her lab experiments. Only problem is with the robots so ful of energy, her mother is getting really tired. Being to young to have seen the Terminator movies, Fran is unaware of what happens when humans try to turn the machines off, or down. The machines see only one solution, rid the world of Fran and her family. It is up to Fran and her lab assistant Igor, to win the war against the machines.

Editorial Review:

Being a mad scientist in the modern world is very hard work. With so much that needs to be done in such a short period of time, multitasking can get way out of hand. Franny needs some additional help. But for Franny there is only one person in the world she trusts to help her with her experiments -- herself. So she acquires assistance the mad-scientist way, by building a few real, live, steel-plated Franbots.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened (Dear Dumb Diary #1)

Jim Benton

Amazon Price: $4.98 List Price: $2.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Scholastic Paperbacks Amazon Marketplace: 10 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Benton, Jim

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

This book is R rated, read it before youd child does 1 out of 5 stars.
3 of 11 people found this review helpful.

Yes, entertaining, etc., but when my 1st grade daughter came up to me and asked me what a "turd" is, I was upset. I asked her where she heard the word and she showed me Dear Dumb Diary, page 24, where one can also find the word "turdpie."

Upset doesn't even begin to describe my feelings at reading this junk.

So, if words like this are your thing, go for it, buy the books for your kids, but please, read it first.

So much fun 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Everybody loves a fun read, right? Children (0-99) will have at least one laugh (guaranteed).

Editorial Review:

School was okay today. Actually, it was better than okay. Angeline got her long, beautiful hair tangled in one of the jillion things she has dangling from her backpack, and the school nurse -- who is now one of my main heroes -- took a pair of scissors and snipped two feet of silky blond hair from the left side of her head, so now Angeline only looks like The Prettiest Girl in the World if you're standing on her right. (Although personally, I think she would look better if I was standing on her neck.)

Spooky Science (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist)

Amazon Price: $3.99 List Price: $3.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Simon Scribbles Amazon Marketplace: 38 new & used starting at $0.89

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Franny K a hit! 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I teach 4th and 5th grades and my students love the Franny K Stein books. They are a nice break from the required reading at their grade level. Most can read the books in a couple of days. I believe in any book that encourages students to read. My students actually fight over who gets to check them out. I only gave it four stars because I do believe that educationally there are better books available.

Editorial Review:

In Spooky Science, get ready for activies, crafts, puzzles, and games that test the boundaries of reality! Includes a page of twisted tattoos!

The Frandidate (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist)

Amazon Price: $10.19 List Price: $14.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 7 new & used starting at $8.90

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Benton, Jim

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Fantastic fun 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Like the other six books in the Franny K. Stein library, The Frandidate is another marvelous invention born from the mind of Jim Benton. We never grow tired of Franny's crazy antics and creations in my household, which is especially impressive when you consider that I have two sons, and well, Franny is a girl. I guess mad science is truly a topic enthralling to both genders. In this seventh book, Franny decides to run for class president. Typical for a mad scientist, Franny's thoughts on how to improve the classroom are slightly extreme. Franny's ideas for exploding chalk for a wrong answer written on the chalkboard or robots who force you to eat a healthy lunch don't go over well with her classmates. The other candidates' speeches about new playground equipment or less homework win greater support with the students. Franny realizes that she is going to have to please all of the students in her class and sets out to invent a suit that will allow her to become whatever another person wants her to be. If a classmate loves bunnies, wearing the suit, Franny becomes a bunny. If a student loves basketball, then Franny can become their favorite basketball player. It's all very simple for a mad scientist, and Franny wins the class election by a landslide. Soon the power has gone to her head, though, and Franny decides that she can just as easily become the President of the United States. It takes a quick thinking lab assistant and a truth seeking mom, to save Franny and the rest of the world from a little mad science gone wrong. Lucky for Franny that the members of her cabinet are so well chosen.

Editorial Review:

Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist, has always had her eye on world domination, but she has to start somewhere...like her class elections! If people voted for her, they were giving her all the control she wanted. But Franny's platform doesn't have the same appeal as her competitors who are offering new playground equipment, so she finds another platform...The Frandidate. Made of DNA samples from a dog, a chameleon and a parrot, along with a scrap of carpet (so she'll know where people stand), Franny creates the perfect candidate who says and does exactly what people want to hear! But soon her suit starts making promises she knows she won't be able to keep and Franny realizes she might have gone too far. The Frandidate will give you everything you want, science, humor and some old fashioned politics!