Publishers Weekly
06/02/2014
Like Rosenthal and Lichtenheld’s Duck! Rabbit!, the debuting husband-and-wife team of Kang and Weyant uses the picture book form for a sophisticated philosophical debate. Weyant, a New Yorker cartoonist, draws two pudgy bearish creatures with bean-like noses—clearly the same species, but different in scale (and in color, it should be noted, though it never comes up). “You are small,” says the larger one, pointing an accusatory paw. “I am not small. You are big,” replies the smaller one, pointing back. “I am not big,” says the larger one, paw to his chest. “See?” A page turn reveals a whole gang of larger creatures just his size. “They are just like me!” But there’s a gang of smaller ones, too. The argument changes when a massive, Godzilla-size foot lands in the middle of the spread (“Boom!”), followed by a tiny creature who descends with a parachute. With these revelations, the creatures hone their analysis: “You are big and you are small.” Start a discussion on the difficulty of establishing standards—or else just read it and giggle. Ages 2–6. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Aug.)
School Library Journal
10/01/2014
K-Gr 2—In this endearing story, two bears argue about perspective. Each is convinced that the other is big or small in comparison to him and his friends ("I am not small. You are big."; "I am not big. See?"). Each group argues, until two other creatures (one even bigger and one even smaller) come along and shows them that they can be both big and small at the same time. The punch line at the end will have audiences laughing. This is a funny book with a good-hearted lesson to which children will easily relate. The illustrations complement the text nicely; the characters are expressive and likeable. The use of white space and large text make this a perfect book for reading aloud or for a shared lap read.—Jasmine L. Precopio, Fox Chapel Area School District, Pittsburgh, PA
Kirkus Reviews
2014-06-30
Fuzzy, bearlike creatures of different sizes relate to one another in an amusing story that explores the relative nature of size.A small purple creature meets a similarly shaped but much larger orange critter. The purple creature maintains that the orange creature is "big"; the orange one counters by calling the purple one "small." This continues, devolving into a very funny shouting match, pages full of each type of creature hollering across the gutter. This is followed by a show-stopping double-page spread depicting two huge, blue legs and the single word "Boom!" in huge display type. Tiny, pink critters then float down by parachute, further complicating the size comparisons. Eventually, these brightly colored animals learn to see things in a different way. In the end, they decide they are all hungry and trudge off to eat together. The story is told effectively with just a few words per page, though younger readers might need help understanding the size and perspective concepts. Cartoon-style illustrations in ink and watercolor use simple shapes with heavy black outlines set off by lots of white space, with an oversized format and large typeface adding to the spare but polished design. While the story itself seems simple, the concepts are pertinent to several important social issues such as bullying and racism, as well as understanding point of view.Charming characters, a clever plot and a quiet message tucked inside a humorous tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
