Big or Little? - love them both

Quote of the Day:  "Two must haves for me are a great book and my iPod."

                                               -Kelly Clarkson

Title:  Big or Little
Author:  Kathy Stinson
Illustrator: Jennifer A. Bell

Aside from the author: " When my son was growing up, he had days when he seemed proud of how 'grown up' he was getting and other days when he seemed frustrated that he wasn't.  A lot of the things that make the boy in the book feel big and little are things that made my son feel that way."      
                                                                          -KS

Annick decided to make Big or Little available in a board board for younger readers.  Some of the words have been changed so the book's readers will relate to what makes its narrator feel big - and little and the illustrator also is brand new.  (and very, very talented I might add)


About the book:

First of all let me say that the illustrations are warm, friendly and  the characters very, very adorable.  The cover invites you into the story and you know you will be welcome and want to engage as you enter into the book.  The little boy struggles with feelings of "big and little" as he measures his abilities to cope with life by the things he can perform in life.  He feels "little" trying to stuff his arms in the right holes when putting on his shirt by himself and contrasts that with feeling "big" when he is in an elevator and can recognize all the numbers to push up to 10. But best of all he can actually push the button number 4 all by himself with no help from his mom.  Now that is a great sense of growth and achievement and "big" in his books.  Many examples throughout the story will bring a smile to your face as you nod your head in agreement with how the little guy makes these decisions to feel either -" big or little".  He concludes that life is good no matter what his size and the icing on the cake is that he has two loving parents to support him as he grows and will love him no matter what his size.


About the author:

Kathy Stinson grew up in Toronto, sorted mail, taught school and waited tables before figuring out, while at home with her two children, that what she really wanted to do was write. In the years since, she has published more than 30 titles – picture books, young adult novels, historical fiction, short stories, biography, and other non-fiction. Mother, stepmother, and grandmother, Kathy currently lives in Rockwood, Ontario with her partner, Peter Carver and their doodle, Keisha.

About the Illustrator:

Jennifer A. Bell is an illustrator whose work can be found on greeting cards, magazines, and over a dozen children's books. She studied fine art at the Columbus College of Art and Design and spent many years as a seasonal giftware designer and freelance greeting card illustrator before illustrating her first book, Far Flutterby by Karen Kingsbury. Jennifer has illustrated many books since, including Too Shy for Show-and-Tell by Beth Bracken (awarded the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize in 2012), Little Dog, Lost by Marion Dane Bauer, the Stella Batts series by Courtney Sheinmel, When a Dad Says 'I Love You' by Douglas Wood, and most recently My Pen Pal, Santa by Melissa Stanton.

She lives in Minneapolis MN with her husband, son, and cranky cat.

Book Review Rating:  8 (Fantastic!)

Read on and read always!  Have a great day!