Book Review: The Big Bigger Biggest Book

Book #30

Book Image:

Bibliographic Citation:

The Big Bigger Biggest Book.

By SAMi. Illus. by author.

2008. 18p. Blue Apple Books, $14.95. (9781934706398) 

Age Group:

Toddler to Preschool

Genre:

Fiction

Awards:

Topics/Issues:

Size, Concept

ELS promoted:

Vocabulary, print motivation, narrative skills

Format:

Lift Flap Book

Author/Illustrator sites:

None listed.

Categorization Tags:

E Sami

Annotation:

Readers can lift flaps on every page and see what is the shortest, the fastest, the deepest, the tallest, the highest and the biggest.

Reactions/Observations:

Using minimal text, this book successfully discusses the concept of size and comparison as well as introducing adjectives, adverbs, and superlatives. Each spread of pages reveals a single word then builds upon it with imagery to illustrate the change from big, bigger, to biggest. Typical of SAMi, the illustrations are bold and easily attract the eyes of toddlers and preschoolers. The lift flaps are used well, depicting the change in an innovative way as well as holding the audience's attention with its surprising twists and turns.  

I found this book because one of the storytime attendees wanted to make a suggestion for my book selection for next week.  She took the time to "read" it to me. From first glance, I would have only tagged this book with vocabulary and print motivation but it was obvious from her storytelling that narrative skills should be included to. The illustrations are simple enough to tell her own story, but clear enough to show that a comparison is taking place.  My storyteller made sure to include what was the least and the most of every set of words.