Review by Booklist Review
Dot may be the smallest person in her family and the smallest girl in her class, but she is definitely not little. After all, she orders food off the grown-up menu, checks out towering stacks of books, and has a favorite Mars rover. When a new boy, even shorter than her, comes to school one day and is picked on by the big school bully, Dot sticks up for him (and herself!) and, in doing so, proves to the whole cafeteria that the difference between being tiny and being insignificant is--well, it's huge. This original and celebratory take on antibullying is gentle, sweet, cheeky, and chock-full of positive messaging. Kim's colored pencil illustrations are as full of cheerful color and sneaky humor as they are rich with a racially diverse cast of schoolchildren and the subtle inclusion of Dot's biracial family. The story is a celebration of size for children everywhere--diminutive or not--acknowledging that strong and powerful things can, indeed, come in tiny packages.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Making her picture book debut, Myers creates a memorable hero in Dot, a diminutive brown-skinned girl who "may be small" but chafes at being treated like she's "little." She catalogs the indignities: "At the library, they ask if I'm sure I want to take out such hard books." When a clerk asks her mother, "Would your little girl like a sticker?" Dot yells, "I'm not little!" Then tan-skinned, bespectacled Sam joins her class; he might be even shorter than Dot, and she's immediately captivated ("I keep trying to get next to him so I can measure"). When a red-haired bully menaces Sam in the cafeteria, Dot realizes that something must be done--and she acts. Myers describes Dot's intervention in a second-by-second account, taking careful note of the emotions and sensations that she experiences ("I feel my heart beating very hard"), clearly conveying how it feels to be scared and intervene anyway. Yum (Grandpa Across the Ocean) portrays Dot and her world with simplicity and sensitivity in colored pencil textures and hues; a double portrait of the moment when Sam lets Dot know what her help means to him is a treat. Ages 3--7. Author's agent: Hannah Mann, Writers House. Illustrator's agent: Sean McCarthy, Sean McCarthy Literary. (July)
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Review by Horn Book Review
Though she's the smallest, physically, in her (mixed-race) family and in her (diverse) class, Dot insists: "I'm not little." Her personality is big, as is her intellect ("I tell them that the square root of sixty-four is eight...Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia...my favorite Mars rover is Curiosity"). When a new, also diminutive kid joins the class, he's teased at recess and lunch by a "mean kid" (hmm -- labels, Dot!). Luckily the plucky protagonist is able to use her big voice, conveyed loud and clear in Myers's conversational text, to stand up for what's right. Yum's art (Saturday Is Swimming Day, rev. 7/18; I Am a Bird, rev. 1/21) features lots of vignettes, some panels, full pages, and occasional spreads, all with plenty of white space and featuring cute patterns, especially in clothing; Dot's polka-dotted shirt and pants in contrasting colors are accessorized with a bright-red kerchief, giving her a mini-superhero vibe. The brave -- and bighearted -- Dot serves as an easy-to-follow model for self-confidence and up-standing. Elissa Gershowitz September/October 2021 p.78(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A small girl makes a big difference. "I may be small, but I'm not little," Dot informs readers, chafing at others' attitudes toward her. She presents as a child of color with light-brown skin and dark hair, which Yum cleverly styles in a bun on top of her head to add some height in the energetic colored-pencil art. She is the smallest person in her interracial family and the smallest person in her class--until Sam arrives. "He might even be smaller than I am," thinks Dot when the teacher introduces him to the class. He appears to be of Asian descent, and he seems nervous at his new school. Sadly, it turns out his anxiety is well founded when "the mean boy," a much-taller White boy, picks on him in the cafeteria. Dot intercedes, using her words to interrupt the bullying and then to defend herself when the mean boy says, "What are you going to do about it, little girl?" Yum is at her expressive best when Dot shifts from an anxiety-ridden state depicted with a bullseye of concentric circles surrounding her to a spread devoid of background as Dot bellows from across the gutter at the boy, "I'M NOT LITTLE!" Sam offers thanks and admiration, not to mention his friendship, to bring the story to a satisfying close. Sure to be a big hit. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
