Little Big

PreS-K—Young children are often frustrated when they cannot do the fun thing the big kids do. Bentley's sweet story about a little boy who envies his big brother may help. In first-person narration, a toddler imagines himself with characteristics of his stuffed giraffe, ape, and alligator. "With big legs like a giraffe, I could race my brother up the hill…and win." The downside is that he would no longer fit in his wagon. He experiments with an ape's bigger hands, useful for opening the cookie jar but not so good for fitting in his playhouse. By the end of the story, the tot accepts the parts of himself that are "perfectly little." Bentley's watercolor and pencil drawings invite readers into the mind of the child and his animated toy animals. This story has been told before, but there's always room for more gentle lessons about being happy with who we are.