Big Kids

K-Gr 4–Before this energetic tale begins, vibrant digital illustrations show a diverse group of children heading from a yellow bus toward school. Both fear and smiles adorn their faces, but it’s the white space surrounding them that resonates as these kids enter a great unknown. The next page introduces an enormous “big kid” who, friendly wave aside, literally blocks the sun. The tiny “little kid” then starts the story by noting all the ways big kids make him feel small—their big voices, stomping feet, and slapping hands; even the shadows of the big kids “stretch until I think they might reach out and get me.” Despite initially wanting to hide from his big kid buddy, the little kid quickly warms as his buddy shows him around. The text is specific and relatable, but it’s the lived-in vibrancy of the school and its inhabitants, the exaggerated difference in the kids’ sizes, and the shifting perspective that create the emotional resonance.