Big Bug

by Henry Cole, Henry Cole (Illustrator)

Overview

Size is relative, but everything is worth seeing in this concept book from the illustrator of And Tango Makes Three.

Beginning with a beautiful close-up of a “big” ladybug, this book artfully depicts the concept of scale. The book zooms out from the bug, to a flower, to a cow, all the way to an expansive spread of sky. Then Henry Cole masterfully zooms back in from that sky, to a tree, to a house, to a window, all the way to the end where an adorable dog is taking a “little” nap.

In this ideal introduction to the concept of scale, young readers will love the lush illustrations of the animals, objects, and scenery of a farm, and they’ll delight in seeing how something “big” can suddenly seem “little” with the turn of a page!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442498976
Publisher:	Little Simon
Publication date:	04/15/2014
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,035,411
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	BR (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Henry Cole has illustrated more than fifty books for children, including And Tango Makes Three, Oink?, and Little Bo in France. A former elementary school teacher, he now writes and paints full time.

Henry Cole has illustrated more than fifty books for children, including And Tango Makes Three, Oink?, and Little Bo in France. A former elementary school teacher, he now writes and paints full time.

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/28/2014
Readers get a hint of the ingenuity in Cole's (Unspoken) nifty study of comparative sizes from its arresting cover, which features a ladybug at very close range, Inside, realistic full-bleed paintings provide a playful look at scale and perspective, using a ladybug as an initial point of reference. The tiny insect ("Little bug") rests on a leaf ("Big leaf"), which becomes a "Little leaf" when seen alongside a "Big flower" on the next spread. Cole continues to pan out until eventually the bucolic farm where the action takes places appears small against the "Big... BIG sky." He then reverses direction, zooming in to view some of the same items in different locations. A final endearing scenario brings readers indoors, where a dog, seen on the prior page through a window with its master, naps contentedly, unaware that a certain little ladybug rests on the tip of its nose. It's an accessible entry point to the concept of relative sizes, with a rural setting whose endless expanses of sky and grass are just as inviting as the flora and fauna seen up close. Ages 4–7. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

In Cole’s latest picture book, an object can be seen as big or little depending on context. The words “Big bug” appear on a double-page spread almost filled with a picture of a ladybug. The next spread, illustrating “Little bug / Big leaf,” shows a smaller picture of the same ladybug on a large leaf. Each turn of the page takes the viewer farther away. The leaf is little compared with a nearby flower, but the flower is little next to a dog, which is dwarfed by a cow. After the “big” object pictured is the sky, the comparison vector shifts, and everything named is smaller than its predecessor. Well matched with the concept, the mixedmedia illustrations are simple and effective. Cole makes good use of changing perspectives in the skillfully composed paintings of rural scenes. Children will enjoy picking out the objects that appear in several illustrations, as they diminish or increase in size from page to page. An attractive addition to picture-book collections.

Booklist - May 1

2014-03-03
What is big and what is little? It's an enormous question, especially for young children who are just beginning to acquire a tentative understanding of their place in the physical world. The concepts of scale and spatial relationships are presented in a series of scenes comparing creatures and objects in various juxtapositions depending on viewpoint or perspective. The tiny ladybug appears very large when viewed up close, but place it on a leaf, and it is miniscule. Zooming in on a flower makes it appear enormous, but it's much smaller when placed next to a dog, which in turn is much smaller than the cow. The cow is tiny when set against farm buildings—which seem very small in relation to the vastness of the sky. Cole's beautifully rendered, sharp, bright, borderless double-page spreads are textured and sharply focused and are perfectly scaled to reinforce the concept. Text is strictly limited to labels in appropriately proportioned type size, each of the creatures and objects big or little within their context. It is a carefully constructed demonstration of a tricky concept, weakened by the final image in which the abstract "little nap" is introduced after the series of concrete, recognizable examples. Lively discussion between parent and child will help to make sense of it all. Visually lovely and appealing. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews