Final answer:
The excerpts provided do not pertain to the book 'Night of the Spadefoot Toads' and therefore cannot be used to explain why Ben chooses to visit Mrs. Tibbets' house over attending a birthday party. Refer to the specific book for the correct answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is asking about a character's decision in the book Night of the Spadefoot Toads by Bill Harley. Unfortunately, the provided excerpts do not contain information from this specific book or character, and as such, they do not give insight into Ben's decision to visit Mrs. Tibbets' house instead of attending Danny's birthday party. Since these excerpts are from different texts, they cannot be used to infer the reason behind Ben's choice in the book mentioned. Therefore, I cannot provide a reliable answer to this question without the relevant text from Night of the Spadefoot Toads. I recommend the student refers directly to the book for the accurate context of Ben's decision.