Little Bee Books – Page 2

Hello, Door, by Alastair Heim/Illustrated by Alisa Coburn, (Jan. 2018, little bee), $16.99, ISBN: 978-1-4998-0536-9

Recommended for readers 3-7

A wily fox sneaks into an opulent home and starts helping himself to food, furnishings, and valuables, greeting each item as he goes; he’s in for a big surprise once the owners return in this fun retelling of The Three Bears!

Alastair Heim creates a fun, repetitive rhyming story where kids can thrill to the fox’s antics and laugh when he gets caught. I’ve test-run this with my picture book storytime; the kids cackled with every “Hel-LO!”: windows, sinks, sandwiches, drinks, and more; you can have a great time switching up the different ways to greet each item he comes across, making it progressively sillier, leading up to the return of none other than The Three Bears, who exact hilarious retribution. The story reminds me of the funniest Warner Brothers cartoons I loved growing up – parents will get just a big a laugh out of this story as the kids.

Alisa Coburn’s art is vibrant, with fun details for sharp-eyed readers (notice the book in the bedroom). The cover, made up of Georgian doors spelling out the book’s title, is eye-catching and gives us an idea of what’s going to happen: that wily fox is already sneaking around. Hello, Door is going to make a fun read-aloud for your next storytime.

Find out more about Alastair Heim and his books at his author webpage. Enjoy more of Alisa Coburn’s illustration at her webpage.

Small, by Gina Perry, (Aug. 2017, Little Bee Books), $17.99, ISBN: 978-1-4998-0401-0

Recommended for readers 3-7

Sometimes it’s a drag being small. It can be intimidating. In Small, a little girl goes through a day in the crowded city feeling small and overwhelmed. When ducks snatch her hot dog, she feels helpless… until a trip to a playground helps her turn it around by allowing her to embraces the positives in her life and how they make her feel big. The love of her family; her drawing ability; her fierce game – all of these and more make her big, brave, and loved.

Small is loaded with positivity. It’s a good book for preschoolers and kindergarteners on self-esteem, filled with moments kids recognize all too well: feeling like second banana to a younger sibling; fears about being lost in a crowd; of not being heard; of just feeling plain helpless. It also taps into positive moments that kids feel: the invincibility of being on a slide or the monkey bars; the power of sidewalk chalk, the power that comes from doing something for someone else. I read this to my toddler/preschooler storytime group, and they loved it! Two of my QH kiddos were captivated by the sidewalk chalk art, so we spent a couple of minutes letting everyone look at the spread and point to the different drawings. The story and the pictures resonated with them.

Author/Illustrator Gina Perry’s webpage has a free, downloadable butterfly craft and activity kit that I’ll definitely use – especially since I just saw a sidewalk art page! This is a great book for letting little ones know what a big space they take up in your life.