BIG by Vashti Harrison
Published: May 2, 2023
Genre: Children’s
Audience: 4-9 years
Setting: Public and School
Content Warnings: Bullying,
Summary (From Amazon): Winner of the Caldecott Medal! A Coretta Scott King Award Author and Illustrator Honor book, a National Book Award finalist, and a New York Times bestseller! This deeply moving story shares valuable lessons about fitting in, standing out, and the beauty of joyful acceptance, from an award-winning creator.
The first picture book written and illustrated by award-winning creator Vashti Harrison traces a child’s journey to self-love and shows the power of words to both hurt and heal. With spare text and exquisite illustrations, this emotional exploration of being big in a world that prizes small is a tender portrayal of how you can stand out and feel invisible at the same time.
Review: This picture book is powerful! The main character is nurtured, celebrated and loved at home. She is growing up to be a big girl (not a baby). Our main character then begins to grow bigger than her peers and whoa, does she feel society's pressure. Children and even grown ups shame her for being too big for their activities or standards. She doesn't fit in the swings on the playground and shamed for it. She is not a cute little flower in the dance recital, but a big mountain and clouds. This is her final breaking point, she feels she is growing bigger and bigger and internalizing all these negative ideas. She cries everything out, the g
ood and the bad. She separates the positive and helpful things that make her who she is and she takes the mean words and gives them back to the people who said them to her. She says, "These are yours. They hurt me." The other characters that were bullying try to play it off as a joke, but it is not and they are still hurtful. In the end the girl likes who she is and doesn't need help changing. This book is excellent for children to both understand that who they are should be celebrated and also to understand that our words have power. As adults we also need to remember our word have power and can easily hurt.
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