Benny Bensky and the Perogy Palace

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

Benny Bensky and the Perogy Palace is delightful, whimsical, hilarious,
irresistible. Dog-lovers will find themselves laughing aloud. So will
children from ages five to 90.

Benny is a large, black stray pup adopted by nine-year-old Rosie Bensky
and her reluctant parents in Smith Falls, Ontario. The dog’s talent
for upsetting Rosie’s father is considerable, and poor Mr. Bensky
already has enough worries—his perogy restaurant is failing for lack
of customers.

Enter a perfect villain, sharp-tempered Ms. Viola Prin, who runs the
Dog Obedience School. She gives Benny a failing grade on his first day
at school. The dog is not vindictive, but he gets his revenge when he
helps Rosie and her best friend uncover the reason for Mr. Bensky’s
failing business. Ms. Viola Prin has been secretly dumping wallpaper
paste, soggy sawdust, “hot and horrible black pepper,” and other
hideous materials into the perogy dough at midnight, in hopes of taking
over the attractive rental unit. Benny ends up a hero, while Ms. Prin
ends up in jail.

Linda Hendry’s comical black-and-white illustrations complement Mary
Borsky’s well-written classic villain-loses/hero-wins story perfectly.
Benny Bensky and the Perogy Palace goes into my permanent library.
Highly recommended.