"Mr. Benton's intellectual properties. . .have made him stand out in an industry dominated
by big entertainment companies." —The Wall Street Journal
I'm an artist and writer that creates lots of different stuff for lots of different ages.

If you don't know what stuff is right for what age, just ask a kid. They always seem to get it right.

To send me an email, click here.
THANK YOU!
At the International Licensing Show in New York, It's Happy Bunny was awarded top honors twice! One for Outstanding Creativity in Licensing, and another for Character Brand of the Year. This is the fifth year in a row that my character has been recognized with the highest awards, and I have to thank everybody in LIMA,Carole Postal and her crew at CopCorp, and mostly the people that buy and enjoy my dumb junk, because none of this happens unless the customer says so.
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IT'S NOT MY FAULT I KNOW EVERYTHING is the newest Book in the Dear Dumb Diary Series. Puppies are named! Diaries are read! Slobber is slobbered! Plus each book includes your own free full-color DIPLOMA OF EVERYTHING to prove to everyone how smart you are!
“ The hilarious author of the Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist books zaps fans with another new series. Jim Benton ... 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. As the subtitle suggests, we can pretend this never happened, but in reality we're sure happy it did.” —EDITORS AT BARNES AND NOBLE

“What's new, what's cool: `Dear Dumb Diary' You'll laugh out loud at what this girl has to say.
—KNIGHT/RIDDER TRIBUNE

". . .the New Tween Lit Hit "Dear Dumb Diary," was released in July and has already found a cult following among young readers. . .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
All DEAR DUMB DIARY books are available on Amazon.com. Click on the following titles to go to the Amazon site and see the listings: Let's Pretend This Never Happened, My Pants Are Haunted, Am I The Princess Or The Frog, Never Do Anything Ever, Can Adults Become Human? , The Problem With Here Is That It's Where I'm From
Never Underestimate Your Dumbnes
It's Not My Fault I Know Everything
Scholastic has their own site just for Dear Dumb Diary, with downloads and stuff. Click here to go see it.
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( For Kids 7-12 and up )
The Frandidate
book 7

Is in stores now!

Is there anything scarier than Mad Science?
How about running for office?

Franny dabbles in politics and things get
out of control. Is our favorite Mad Scientist
cut out forthis sort of thing?

Click here to go straight to the lisitng on Amazon.com

Frantastic Voyage
book 5

FINALIST for The Eleanor Cameron Award for Kid's Science Fiction!

Click here to go straight to the lisitng on Amazon.com

“ This fifth installment in Franny's ongoing mad-science adventures delivers all the brainy, action-packed, organic-substance-fueled fun fans of the series have come to expect. ...the perfect heroine for girls and boys who enjoy their grossout humor with a side of science.”

—THE BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS

“ That makes for some deliciously gross comedy which Benton maximizes with his usual freewheeling black-and-white sketches. Series fans will love it all.”

—BOOKLIST

The Fran That Time Forgot
book 4

WINNER of The Eleanor Cameron Award for Kid's Science Fiction!

Click here to go straight to the lisitng on Amazon.com

The Fran With Four Brains
book 6

FINALIST for The Eleanor Cameron Award for Kid's Science Fiction!

Click here to go straight to the lisitng on Amazon.com

Lunch walks Among Us
book 1
Attack Of The 50-Ft. Cupid
book 2

Click here to go straight to the listing on Amazon.com.

Click here to go straight to the listing on Amazon.com
"This has the glib, kid-appealing insouciance of Captain Underpants with an intelligence all its own. . . they'll adore the generously flowing jokes. .. . This is both smart and snork-worthy, an easy read that will appeal particularly to young cynics and Goths-to-be."
BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS
“ Fast paced and very funny, this book is likely to fly off the shelves faster than a giant Cupid shoots an arrow.”
—SCHOOL AND LIBRARY JOURNAL
The Invisible Fran
book 3

Click here to go straight to the lisitng on Amazon.com

Check out the cool Franny toys here: shopfranny.com
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The jOkObO project
Lots of people know my books and merchandise but until now, almost nobody ever saw my sketchbooks.

I draw and paint every day just for the sheer fun of it, and now some manufacturers want to put these drawing and paintings into the market.

jOkObO apparel is available at super-cool Virgin MegaStores, and through the jOkObO.com website.

And there is a new, limited edition print available on that site as well. ( Part of the smooch series )

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An anti-drug campaign featuring It's Happy Bunny was honored at the 2007 Austin ADDY Awards for advertising excellence in the category of public service.

The campaign, which features a poster and sticker series and web site aimed at middle-school students, was entered into the Austin ADDY Awards competition by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, Texas Alliance and earned them and It's Happy Bunny artist and creator Jim Benton, a GOLD ADDY, a Silver ADDY and a Bronze ADDY award for Public Service marketing. The campaign features It's Happy Bunny images and phrases deriding substance abuse.

These were created by Benton especially for this campaign at the request of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, Texas Alliance for use in Texas as well as by any other participating Partnership for a Drug-Free America alliances nationwide.

The ADDYs are the largest creative competition in the nation, with over 60,000 entries. The ADDY Awards represent the true spirit of creative excellence by recognizing all forms of advertising from media of all types, creative by all sizes and entrants of all levels from anywhere in the world.

CLICK HERE to see ( and maybe order ) the award-winning anti-drug posters and shirts.
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It's Happy Bunny®

( some of it is for teens and up )

Does It's Happy Bunny dislike anybody in particular??

Of course not.

It's Happy Bunny dislikes everybody.

Go to Blackjack Inc.com. to see new shirts, stickers, socks, lunchboxes, air-fresheners, key rings and more from this terrible, nasty, no-good bunny.

The new It's Happy Bunny Book is available now! It's called THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE BUNNY
You'll find it in bookstores and speciality stores like Claire's. Or you can order it now from Amazon.com or Blackjackinc.com.

You might also like the other It's Happy Bunny books LOVE BITES, LIFE.GET ONE, and WHAT'S YOUR SIGN?

Get all of them autographed at no additional cost by ordering from Blackjack Inc.
Click here to go have a look!

SEE LISTING OF LOVE BITES ON AMAZON.COM

SEE LISTING OF LIFE.GET ONE ON AMAZON.COM

Go have a look at those books by clicking here
"Who could resist?" —Publishers Weekly
These cool new postcard books each feature 16 high-quality postcards and 20 color mini-stickers. Go get on Amazon.com by clicking HERE, or order them from the blackjackinc.com site, where the books are autographed by Jim Benton at no extra cost.
And by the way, The American Librarian's Association has —for the THIRD TIME—chosen an It's Happy Bunny Book as one of their TOP PICKS for teen readers! The feeling's mutual: I never met a librarian I didn't like.
And one more thing about this mean little bunny: Every year, LIMA ( The Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association ) has a big gala during the International Licensing Show in New York. A couple years ago, It's Happy Bunny won for Best Art Brand License of the Year ! The next year, It's Happy Bunny scored again, taking the award for Best Character Brand Licensee- soft goods, manufactured and distributed by apparel manufacturer extraordinaire: Jerry Leigh. Last year, It's Happy won again for Best Character Brand Licensee- hard goods for the books produced by Scholastic and now this past June, It's Happy Bunny won for Best Character Brand of the Year, AND it won a Special Merit Award for Outstanding Creativity in Licensing for Cop Corp's Drug-Free America Program.
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MEANYDOODLES has made her grouchy way into Claire's.Have a look at your local Claire's for MeanyDoodles stuff you just can't get anywhere else!
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Now on apparel and paper products and other crazy junk!

Click here to see some of the newest stuff from Just Jimmy.

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Cherise The Niece is my new book from Penguin/ Plume. They call it an "adult picture book" and recommend it for reader 14 years and older. No wonder: It's a darkly comic story of a strange little girl that MAY be doing away with her aunts one-by-one. And it's told completely in rhyme. If you like Edward Gorey and Charles Addams and Tim Burton as much as I do, you might like Cherise as well.
You can find the book at many great booksellers, or click on any of these terrific online sources:

AMAZON.COM, POWELLS.COM, BOOKSENSE.COM, BOOKSAMILLION.COM

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Original Art
Original Jim Benton drawings and paintings SELL OUT in a hurry. More are in the works and will be on the site soon: JKBenton.com.

Most of the paintings are kind of large, some of the subjects ( like portraits of It's Happy Bunny ) are familiar, and some are of brand new things you've just never seen before.

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And There's A Bunch Of Other Stuff
All materials, images and content are protected by copyright and may not be used without written permission.