Masurel’s story is a funny and sympathetic turning of the tables on that childhood blight of being “too small.” Charlie wins Big Tex—a blue-and-white striped dinosaur—at a carnival. He is large, towering not just over Charlie, but his mother and father as well. So Tex is often left at home while Charlie goes on adventures to the store, park, and circus, with other, smaller toy friends. One day, when Charlie is feeling sick, these toy friends conspire to get lost, and Tex gets his chance, accompanying the boy to the doctor’s. Tex finds no doors closed to him thereafter. There is a heavy identification factor that will pass no child unnoticed, and Masurel exhibits a dexterous use of language that is intelligent, accessible, and euphonious. Wakiyama’s accompanying illustrations are exquisite. Making sport of light and shadow, as well as distant perspectives that are still emotionally revealing, she creates a dinosaur for all ages: alluring, comforting, loyal, soothing to the eye, and silent. (Picture book. 2-6)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8118-2090-4
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Small, a very little fox, needs some reassurance from Large in the unconditional love department. If he is grim and grumpy, will he still be loved? “ ‘Oh, Small,’ said Large, ‘grumpy or not, I’ll always love you, no matter what.’ “ So it goes, in a gentle rhyme, as Large parries any number of questions that for Small are very telling. What if he were to turn into a young bear, or squishy bug, or alligator? Would a mother want to hug and hold these fearsome animals? Yes, yes, answers Large. “But does love wear out? Does it break or bend? Can you fix it or patch it? Does it mend?” There is comfort in Gliori’s pages, but it is a result of repetition and not the imagery; this is a quick fix, not an enduring one, but it eases Small’s fears and may well do the same for children. (Picture book. 2-6)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-202061-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
The scope of a girl’s world broadens in this simple book that introduces the scale of existence, in a game of identity and location that most children have played. “My name is Maria Mendoza,” the intimate text begins. “I live with my father, my mother, my baby brother, Tony, and my older sister, Angelica at number 43 Juniper street.” Maria goes on to name her place in her town, county, state, country, continent, hemisphere, planet, solar system, galaxy, and universe, knowing that as small as it may be in comparison, her immediate world is significant. She is still Maria Mendoza, “from here to there.” Cuyler’s plain text is laden with meaning for new readers; she allows them to draw their own conclusions, which they will. Pak’s bright colors and perspective help children keep track of Maria’s place in the universe, and with folksy familiarity, take the vistas from local to grand. (Picture book, 3-6)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-3191-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
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