Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
On top of sibling rivalry and displacement fears, the four-year-old narrator of this story has a bigger problem (literally): his two-year-old brother is taller than he is. "Now people think he is my older brother," says the beleaguered, bespectacled boy. But when a bully threatens the narrator during pretend-play Thanks-giving preparations at daycare, having a big little brother comes in handy. Although the premise takes some suspension of disbelief, Ling, an adult author and NPR commentator, makes an assured children's book debut. His narrator is endearingly nerdy and acutely observant: "He grabs the first donut he sees and holds it all day," the boy says of his annoying sibling, later adding, "When he falls asleep at night, his hands unfold and donut crumbs fall out." (Ling also sneaks in a joke about Thanksgiving dinner dynamics that should elicit a knowing grin from grownups.) Monroe (the Monkey with a Toolbelt series) has an eloquent, poignant ink line that gives her cartooning an empathic, deadpan vibe, and she gets a lot of comic mileage from the younger brother's goggle-eyed, phlegmatic demeanor. It's mumblecore for the picture-book crowd. Ages 4-8. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 1-"'It's my own fault. I wanted a little brother,'" says the four-year-old narrator as he faces readers to begin this tale of birth order gone awry. He has been looking forward to bossing the little fellow around, but his plan crumbles when, at age two, his younger sibling is bigger than he is. And though the two-year-old still sleeps in a crib, wears diapers, and can't even talk, people mistake him for the older boy. Plus, he constantly follows his brother around, messes with his things, grabs doughnuts he doesn't even eat, and claims all of Mom's attention when he's afraid of monsters at night. However, when the narrator tries to stand up to a bully in the playroom, the sudden appearance of his big "little" brother provides just the right reinforcement, and "the kid walks away." Monroe's bright watercolor cartoons appear in vignettes and full-page paintings. They depict an older sibling who expresses his chagrin throughout. His narration, some of which appears in speech balloons, is appropriately childlike. His round-eyed brother wears an ever-present grin and seems oblivious to the consternation he is causing. This is a charming story made all the more refreshing by the absence of parental interference or moralizing. The boys become best buddies on their own, and now it is the younger child's older brother who sings away those monsters at bedtime. Children who experience their own sibling trials will readily relate to this story.-Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
(Picture book. 3-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
