A very big story about a very small girl.
Mimi is so much littler than everyone, "I might as well be called Mini," she says. Everyone is taller than her, even the family dog! Though there are advantages—like fitting into the best hiding places—to Mimi, being small is the worst. But then one day, a surprise shows up at home. A very little surprise. And Mimi begins to realize that being little is just a matter of perspective. The perfect book for any child trying to find their place in the world.
September 1, 2018
What child hasn't felt too small on occasion? Here, Mimi is smaller than everyone in her family (including the dog) as well as everyone in her class.Mimi's tale starts as one of woe, a litany of drawbacks to being petite: not being noticed in crowds, not being able to touch the floor while seated on the school bus, not being able to see desserts at the bakery, and so on. But there are two sides to every coin, and Mimi's friends help her notice the benefits: winning at hide-and-seek, being in the front row for pictures, and treating the bathtub like a swimming pool. At 48 pages, this is a bit longer than is typical for picture books for young children, but there is limited text on each page, and the illustrations with plenty of white space help make the story accessible. Leng's pen, ink, and watercolor drawings--even the trim size of the whole package--are appropriately small in scale and focus; the pictures are reminiscent of James Stevenson's art. The satisfying ending shows that it doesn't make any difference if Mimi is sad or glad about being small: She won't be the smallest in the family any longer, as a new baby brother has just arrived. Mimi--who wears her brown hair short along with jeans, T-shirt, and a sweatshirt (all too big for her, of course)--and her family present white; her friends and fellow students are diverse.A sweet demonstration that a change in perspective can work wonders. (Picture book. 4-7)
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January 1, 2019
Narrator Mimi is so frustratingly diminutive that she can't reach above the bottom of the blackboard at school, see all the desserts in the bakery's display case, etc. Her insecurity is finally mitigated at book's end, when her father introduces her to a tiny new family member. Leng's deft pen-and-ink and watercolor art captures Mimi's pint-size drama to perfection.
(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
Starred review from October 1, 2018
PreS-Gr 2-Mimi is small-smaller than Daddy, Mommy, two older siblings, and Gus the dog. She is smaller than everyone in her school class and goes unnoticed in the crush of sidewalk crowds. She has a list of things that bug her about her size-bouncing around on the school bus, in shops where she is lower (and again, smaller than most displays), and especially in her school, where all tower over her from classroom to lunchroom. Her family and friends are aware of her feelings and point out size advantages such as her "small secret places" to hide or time to snuggle with Mommy and Daddy. Then Daddy introduces her to a new family member, one even tinier than she. Suddenly she is a big sister. Pen, ink, and watercolor softly illustrate Mimi's world-from playing Knights with Gus to synchronized swimming in the bathtub-with a first-person narrative of detailed scenes that illuminate her inventive imagination and frustrations living small in a big world. VERDICT A comforting read for any young child in a large and growing family, this offering is a suggested first purchase for all libraries.-Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX
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