About the Book

It’s Lillie’s birthday today but instead of being happy she’s miserable. Luckily her uncle has a surprise he’s
been waiting ten years to show her and it’s going to change everything. Lillie’s uncle brings her into a
special room and shows her a penny he found 30 years ago. It's not just any penny. It's a 1909 S-V.D.B.
penny he named Benny. Lill's uncle also shows her the story he made up about Benny and his quest to
discover what made him special. It tells how Benny got caught up in a train robbery, got dumped in the
snow and kicked into a sewer drain. But with the help of Nicky the Nickel and an orphan named Jack, he
finally discovered the truth. Benny's story teaches Lillie what it takes to be special and how she can feel
that way for the rest of her life: That's THE BIG SECRET.   

Benny the Penny and the Big Secret is categorized as a chapter book for 8 to 10 year old children.
However, the author wrote it to appeal to a much broader audience utilizing his training in developmental
psychology. So it can be understood by kids as young as 4 and appreciated by "kids" much older than 10.

EDUCATIONAL VALUE

Benny the Penny teaches kids that their value doesn't come from what they look like, where they live or
how many friends they do or don't have but from somewhere else (you'll have to read the book to find out
where :-). It also teaches kids multicultural values, the benefits of working together, and the history,
geography and culture of the United States, including one of the countries most prized ideals printed on
all U.S. coins and currency, E PLURIBUS UNUM or "out of many, one."   

AUTHOR'S NOTE

What makes people special?
How do I become special if I'm not already?
Is it something a person can gain or lose? In other words, is it possible to have been special once but not
anymore?

These aren't questions you probably go around asking yourself very often. They are more fundamental,
philosophical questions like what is the meaning of life? But just because we don't typically talk about
what it means to be being special around water coolers and in restaurants doesn't mean the question
isn't important: actually it's essential. Pride, accomplishment, feeling attractive, believing in and sticking
up for yourself all have their roots in feeling valuable. That's the underlying question we are alluding to
when we ask ourselves if we're special or not. What could be more essential?

These are the things I had been pondering one day when a penny abruptly intruded. I was sitting on a
bench in Central Park. The penny in middle of an asphalt walkway shining brightly in the morning sun. I
sat there--no kidding--for over a half an hour. People walked right by it..and over it...and around it...like it
was a leaf or a twig. I won’t say trash because I bet if it were trash, some litter-conscious person would
have picked it up. But nobody picked that little penny up. It made me wonder: is a penny worth anything
anymore?

You may have seen it yourself: people actually throw pennies away. There is even a movement to get rid
of pennies all together. I’m as guilty as anyone of disrespecting the lowly penny. Once, while digging into
my pocket for “real money,” I dropped a penny, watched it fall and just walked away. How rude, eh? If a
penny were dropped on the street during the Great Depression you better believe whoever knowingly
dropped it would scamper to get it back quickly before someone else made a beeline for it. When I was a
kid some of us thought it very hip to stick a shiny new penny in our loafers. So what changed?

Right there and then I vowed I would find the true meaning of being valuable and special. That is why I
wrote Benny the Penny and the Big Secret. To tell people what I found in a way even little kids could
understand. I think it's a very cool conclusion and incredibly powerful because it's true. Pick up a copy.
You'll see what I mean.