Contributor biographical information http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0738/98036194-b.html
Available:*
Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 35000000010447 | PZ7 T66 1999 | Open Access Book | Creative Book | Searching... |
On Order
Summary
Summary
When Charlie wins at the carnival, he chooses the biggest prize of all-a blue dinosaur. But soon Charlie discovers that Big Tex is too big to go to the park, so he must take Bunny instead. It seems Big Tex is too big to go anywhere! That is until Charlie gets sick and must go to the doctor. All of his small stuffed animals hide. But not Big Tex who is just the right size. This sweet story will appeal to any child who has ever felt too small. Ages 2-6.
Author Notes
Claire Masurel was born in France and now lives in New York City. She is the author of more than fifteen books for children.Hanako Wakiyama is a freelance illustrator who lives in Northern California. This is her second children s book.
Reviews 3
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1When young Charlie wins his choice of carnival prizes for knocking down all of the cans in the ball pitch, he picks a huge stuffed dinosaur he names Big Tex. While Charlie thinks hes just the right size, his Dad and Mom feel that hes TOO BIG! The boy takes his smaller toys to the park, shopping, and to the circus, but Tex is always left behind because of his size. Then one day, Charlie feels sick and needs to go to the doctor. Since none of his other stuffed animals can be found, Tex makes the trip as, He was TOO BIG to hide. The doctor examines both Charlie and Tex, and prescribes bed rest and medicine. While hes in bed, Charlies Mom cheers him up by telling him theyll go to a movie when hes feeling better. Guess who gets to accompany them to the theater? Wakiyamas illustrations, rendered in oil, lend a quiet but glowing atmosphere to this simple and thoroughly enjoyable story. Youngsters will feel for Big Tex when hes left out of the various family trips and will delight in the drawing on the final page, which shows him towering over the other moviegoers. A surefire hit, whether read to individual children or to a group.Tom S. Hurlburt, La Crosse Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Wakiyamas (Humphrey the Lost Whale) fresh, distinctive artwork and Masurels (Christmas Is Coming) understated story infuse this toy tale with quiet originality. Whats too big is a boys blue-and-white striped dinosaur named Tex. While the smaller toys get to accompany the boy everywhere, Tex never went to the beach. He never went to a baseball game. He never went anywhere. Poor Tex! The illustration shows the dinosaur gazing woefully out the window, holding the curtain aside. But when its time to go to the doctor, the other toys hide; only loyal Tex is ready and waiting with his mild smile and a red hat and scarf. Wakiyamas atmospheric oil paintings feature characters with a smooth, rounded quality reminiscent of William Joyces inventions, but with a palette of soft blues, yellows and reds that lend the figures a weightless quality (Tex appears to be inflated). The artists use of unexpected perspectives is all her own; for instance, a pair of before-and-after porthole-shaped paintings shows the boy delivering the pitch that wins him Tex as a prize, with the ball and cans (once stacked as a pyramid) breaking the circular frame. The delightfully peculiar artwork seems so right that it feels already familiar, like an heirloom teddy bear; the light, whimsical style fits the fantasy of animated toys especially well. Just like Tex, kids will want to take this winner of a book everywhere. Ages 2-6. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Ages 2^-7. Charlie selects an enormous, striped toy dinosaur, Big Tex, as his prize when he wins a carnival game. Big Tex's size proves a problem, though, when Charlie wants to take him on an outing: "`He is TOO BIG! Let's take Teddy,' [says] Charlie's dad." The good thing about being big is that when Charlie needs a toy to take to the doctor, Big Tex is in plain sight when all the other animals are hidden. Masurel keeps the story simple and direct, pacing it well for use with very young children. The warm oil paintings glow with soft light and capture the story's gently whimsical tone. Size is a topic of importance to most preschoolers, since they are so often gauging themselves against bigger and smaller things, and they will find this story both satisfying and reassuring. --Susan Dove Lempke
