When Penny finds a marble in her neighbor Mrs. Goodwin's yard she can't resist taking it home. Later she sees Mrs. Goodwin looking for something outside, and Penny begins to worry. She hides the marble in a drawer. She stays close to Mama all afternoon. She isn't very hungry at dinner. She dreams about the marble that night. The next day, she puts the marble back, only to discover Mrs. Goodwin had left it out hoping someone like Penny would see it and take it home. "Penny rolled the marble between her fingers. It seemed even more shiny and smooth and blue than before." Kevin Henkes is so adept at translating the emotional world of young children into entertaining stories that bring a smile and a sigh of satisfaction that it can be easy to forget how much skill goes into them. The latest "Penny" book for advanced beginning readers is as winsome and appealing as the others. (Ages 4-7)