Big Little: A Family Morris Story Story Written by Bennet Walker Art by Cal Hobbes

Shelly is a little girl who has both a big sister and a big brother. This story seems to be about what she wants to do one day.

I read a review copy of this story meant for young children. It’s been a very long time since I’ve had any children young enough for a book like this, but the first thing that I want to talk about is the art that shows this story. It was perfect for the book. It was beautiful and clearly showed how little Shelly felt as the day progressed.

The story itself, however, I had a few problems with. I loved that the family was a blended family. But what bothered me was that the entire way through the book, the mother watched every member of the family tell Shelly that she was too little for what she wanted to do. And in each instance there was never any suggestion of what they could do to include Shelly or of something else that the little girl could do instead that would be just as much fun as what her siblings were doing.

I feel that this story could have used a developmental editor. I kept wanting the mother, or any other member of the family, to say or do something to include Shelly rather than just telling her she was too little. The further I got in this story, the sadder I felt for the little girl. (Again, I was impressed that the artist included the sad and disappointed look on Shelly’s face in each instance.)

While I do recognize that older / teenage siblings don’t always go out of their way to include a young sibling in what they are doing, why didn’t the mother notice how sad her daughter was getting after each time she was told she was too little. Maybe I’m reading too much into the story, but if this is a typical day for Shelly, the story seems to be saying that because she’s little, she can’t do anything. And I feel that is the wrong message to send a child.

For me, this book needs something that only Shelly is small enough to do. Turning the tables on her older siblings by having them be too big for something would have made the ending of the story much more meaningful and powerful. But while the ending does bring a big smile to Shelly’s face, it wasn’t something that she was the only one small enough to do. And for me, it didn't make up for all the negative “You’re too small” comments from every family member—including her mother—throughout Shelly’s Day.

I would rate the artwork for this book at four stars, but the story itself, for me, was only a one star because of the way it left me feeling disappointed and sad for Shelly rather than happy about her having something special that no one else could do because they were too big.

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