25% Off Pre-Order Books with Code: PREORDER25 for Premium & Reward Members Shop Now

Little Brown

Add to Wishlist

Little Brown

Hardcover

$17.99

View All Available Formats & Editions

Hardcover
$17.99

View All Available Formats & Editions

SHIP THIS ITEM

Qualifies for Free Shipping
PICK UP IN STORE
Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Available within 2 business hours

Want it Today?
Check Store Availability

Related collections and offers

Want it Today?
Check Store Availability

Overview

“An open-ended story that creates a great starting point for meaningful discussion with young children about bullying and inclusion.” —School Library Journal (starred review)

A grumpy and lonely little dog at the animal shelter decides to take matters into his own paws in this though-provoking and sublime picture book from the award-winning author and illustrator of The Boss Baby!

Little Brown is one cranky canine because no one ever plays with him at the animal shelter. Or maybe no one ever plays with him because he is cranky. Either way, Little Brown decides today is the day to take action, so he takes all of the toys and sticks and blankets from all of the dogs at the shelter and won’t give them back. But what will happen now?

Product Details
About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481425223
Publisher:	Beach Lane Books
Publication date:	10/02/2018
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 12.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Marla Frazee is the recipient of a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Picture Book and a three-time Caldecott Honor winner. She has illustrated many acclaimed picture books, including All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, Stars by Mary Lyn Ray, and Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, as well as her own Farmer Books trilogy, A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, and The Boss Baby, which inspired the DreamWorks Animation film. She is also the illustrator of the New York Times bestselling Clementine chapter books by Sara Pennypacker. The mother of three grown sons, she lives in Pasadena, California. Visit her at MarlaFrazee.com.

Marla Frazee is the recipient of a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Picture Book and a three-time Caldecott Honor winner. She has illustrated many acclaimed picture books, including All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, Stars by Mary Lyn Ray, and Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, as well as her own Farmer Books trilogy, A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, and The Boss Baby, which inspired the DreamWorks Animation film. She is also the illustrator of the New York Times bestselling Clementine chapter books by Sara Pennypacker. The mother of three grown sons, she lives in Pasadena, California. Visit her at MarlaFrazee.com.

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

Frazee…is not so much offering a lesson as challenging her audience to do better, be more just and kind, figure out how everyone can get a fair share.

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

08/13/2018
It’s another day at the dog park. “The big dogs chased balls,” writes Frazee (The Farmer and the Clown). “The small dogs ran around in circles. The old dogs napped together in the shade. The young dogs got muddy.” And then there’s Little Brown. With a powerful stink-eye and his back curved in resentment, he sits alone by the fence and seethes. He’s been cranky for so long that nobody knows which came first: is he that way because he’s lonely and ignored, or did his crankiness drive the other dogs away? When Little Brown finally acts out by swiping all the toys in the park—he sits on top of the pile, a canine king of the hill—the remaining hounds wonder how to respond, and so does Little Brown. No one steps in to resolve the standoff, the rain arrives, and all the dogs head home with the vague hope that “Maybe tomorrow... they would know what to do.” It’s not much in the way of a balm, but the book sensitively and successfully handles the idea that social dynamics can become difficult over time. Ages up to 8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Frazee interestingly leaves the conclusion open-ended, with no dog managing to break the standoff....offers easy discussion prompts (the dogs’ questions could be posed to the audience verbatim) for some empathy-building and social consideration, while the adults can consider larger political symbolism. Frazee’s pencil and gouache illustrations draw on a somber earth-toned palette, and poor hunched-over Little Brown is the picture of unhappy distrust as he lurks against the chain-link fence. The absence of humans to bring higher authority emphasizes the playground aspects of the scene, and kids who’ve struggled to negotiate interpersonal dynamics there will find this a useful invitation to talk them through.

October 2018 - BCCB

★ 11/01/2018
PreS-Gr 2—Little Brown feels isolated at the dog park. The other dogs play and communicate with one another while he sits alone next to the chain-link fence. Frazee poses the conundrum: is his grouchiness the reason he's left alone or does being friendless put him in a perpetually bad mood? Fed up with being ignored, Little Brown suddenly and methodically seizes all the toys the other animals have been enjoying. Astounded at his actions, they all sit and stare at him in confusion as he perches, King of the Mountain–style, on top of his toy-hostage haul. Illustrations in gouache and black Prismacolor are in muted shades of gray, tan and rust. Thought bubbles let readers in on the dogs' bewilderment and indecision on what to do about their situation. And their decision is classic. The endpapers show every one of the 17 dogs pictured and labeled with its name, except for Little Brown whose photo has a question mark attached to it. VERDICT An open-ended story that creates a great starting point for meaningful discussion with young children about bullying and inclusion.—Maryann H. Owen, Oak Creek Public Library WI

School Library Journal

2018-07-24
A cranky dog faces the consequences of his crankiness in this picture book.
Author/illustrator Frazee's pencil and gouache illustrations show a cranky, scowling brown dog—Little Brown—sitting alone against the chain-link fence of a bare-bones dog park. The hand-lettered text is a subtle touch, infusing a friendly warmth into the physical look of the words, and the illustrations are done in a warm, muted palette, and readers may subconsciously begin to hope that with all this visual warmth, Little Brown will find playmates at last. It's not that he doesn't have plenty of opportunity—there are many other dogs in the park. So when a ball rolls his way and Little Brown grabs it, this looks like the beginning of the end of Little Brown's isolation and crankiness. But he then decides to grab the other toys, and in a jiffy, he's collected a whole pile and stands on top of them, like a dragon hoarding treasure. Now there is a "dilemma." The dogs wonder if they should play with Little Brown in order to get their toys back (or would that make them cranky too?), and Little Brown wonders if he gives it all back, will they play with him, and what if they don't? Weirdly, this dilemma remains unresolved, leaving readers to continue the pondering: It becomes time to go and "maybe tomorrow / they would know what to do."
A promising start dissolves to an undetermined, unsatisfying conclusion. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Related Subjects

Customer Reviews