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Big Words Small Stories #1
The Missing Donut
Here's a collection of short stories with a twist. The five stories all feature the misadventures of a boy named Cris, who likes things all in a row, and his cat, Crat, who likes to mix things up. Running within each of these lighthearted stories is another story, this one about the Sprinkle Fairy, owner of a word factory in Sicily, where the best words in the world come from. The Sprinkle Fairy has a team of helpers, called the Sprinklers, who have slipped one of her big words (like, discombobulated) into each of the small stories. Luckily, the Sprinklers provide warnings right before the big words appear (Big word coming!) and include their pronunciations and meanings afterward. Then, a bonus story at the end --- A Small Play on Big Words --- uses all the big words together.
52 pages, Hardcover
First published September 4, 2018
2 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Judith Henderson
32 books8 followersJudith Henderson does a lot of stuff. She is an Emmy Award–winning composer, author, illustrator and TV producer. She wrote the Big Words Small Stories series, which was green-lit as an animated TV show. Her other books include Dee and Apostrofee, This Is a Dog Book! and AAAlligator! She lives in Montreal, Quebec.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
September 3, 2018
I LOVED the concept behind Big Words Small Stories: The Missing Donut. The book contains 5 short stories, each of which teaches a complicated "Big Word" in an easy-to-understand way.
It's a cross between a picture book and a comic, and I thought the design was really good -- each story followed a clear pattern and both definitions and pronunciation guides were given for each "Big Word".
The book finishes with a summary story that uses all of the newly-learned words to recap the lessons.
Although this book would appeal to many new readers who are looking for an easy way to build their vocabularies, I question the choice of words that were presented. "Bamboozled" and "smithereens" are not as helpful words to know as, say, "conscientious" or "indignantly".
While I have some misgivings about the words chosen to be highlighted, this could be the start of a great little series. If more books are to come, I hope that the author would consider mixing some more utilitarian words in with the silly. Overall 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for providing me with a DRC of this book.
It's a cross between a picture book and a comic, and I thought the design was really good -- each story followed a clear pattern and both definitions and pronunciation guides were given for each "Big Word".
The book finishes with a summary story that uses all of the newly-learned words to recap the lessons.
Although this book would appeal to many new readers who are looking for an easy way to build their vocabularies, I question the choice of words that were presented. "Bamboozled" and "smithereens" are not as helpful words to know as, say, "conscientious" or "indignantly".
While I have some misgivings about the words chosen to be highlighted, this could be the start of a great little series. If more books are to come, I hope that the author would consider mixing some more utilitarian words in with the silly. Overall 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for providing me with a DRC of this book.
July 25, 2018
This book is so much fun. And it makes learning big words fun as well. The Sparkle Fairy is in charge of big words. And her little sparklers help a reader get ready for the big word. Cris is our main boy in the story along with his cat Crat. They get into all sorts of fun trouble. This is a beginner chapter book, but would be awesome for reluctant readers because it is fully illustrated, the pages are short, and each chapter is like it’s own little story that lasts about 4 or 5 pages. A wonderful book and I hope there are more.
October 19, 2018
Early readers have certainly gotten better since the days of Dick and Jane. What is especially cool, with this early reader, is that it doesn’t stick to the list of easy words, but for each story, a new, special difficult word is thrown in, such as the example below, discombobulated.
Or this example, where the word is bamboozled.
There are little helpers that announce the big word is coming. Then the big word is used in a sentence, so you can see it in context, and then, at the end of the story, it is defined, in case you weren’t able to figure it out, through reading the story.
The short stories, or short chapters are fun, funny,and easy to read, and the pictures are fun too. The only problem I had with one, is where the cat breaks a museum peice and gets away with it. I feel that might send a bad message to kids.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
Or this example, where the word is bamboozled.
There are little helpers that announce the big word is coming. Then the big word is used in a sentence, so you can see it in context, and then, at the end of the story, it is defined, in case you weren’t able to figure it out, through reading the story.
The short stories, or short chapters are fun, funny,and easy to read, and the pictures are fun too. The only problem I had with one, is where the cat breaks a museum peice and gets away with it. I feel that might send a bad message to kids.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
June 5, 2018
I liked the big word part because it teach vocabulary, but the big words are kind of too big, so there are not really book that you will use in your day to day life. The book in itself his made of small «funny» story that involve a young boy and his cat. The humor did not really work and lack of originality. So this book, even if it started from good intention, did not achived it very well. I give two because of the vocabulary part which was a good idea, but unfortunately there is not much esle with it.
December 31, 2018
As a teacher, I am ECSTATIC about this book! It’s funny, with SPLENDID illustrations - and MARVELOUS examples of context clues, pronunciation guides, and quotation marks! I can’t wait to add this to my classroom library and use it to model reading and writing skills. This book is PHENOMENAL!
October 17, 2018
Five very playful short stories with Cris, a young boy who likes things a certain way and his cat, Crat, who is just the opposite. Then we have the Sprinkle Fairy who has a word factory in Sicily who sprinkles us with big words: Bamboozled, Smithereens, Purloined, Discombobulated and Galoshes. The youngsters are going to have a lot of fun with these names and the adults will no doubt have fun explaining them. A couple of the short stories work better than the others but overall a book that kids will have fun with.
July 10, 2018
I absolutely can not wait to use BIG WORDS SMALL DONUTS STORIES: THE MISSING DONUT with my students. This book is such a fun way to teach vocabulary to young children.
July 5, 2018
What a cute combination of geography, safety and "big words" all combined in a story format. Great pictures and captions. Each story concludes with a definition of another "big word". The conclusion, using all of the big words, is sweet! Kudos ! Love this book!
Many thanks to Kids Can Press and NetGalley for this treat!
Many thanks to Kids Can Press and NetGalley for this treat!
September 8, 2018
'Big Words Small Stories: The Missing Donut' by Judith Henderson with illustrations by T.L. McBeth is a series of short stories that all feature a big word. And a cat that likes to cause trouble.
The stories in this book are for younger readers. They feature a boy named Cris and his Cat, Crat. There is also a Sprinkle Fairy who likes to wave her wand and add a big word to each story. For the story of the missing donut, the word is Purloined. It includes a pronunciation guide and plenty of definitions. Each of the first 5 stories includes a new big word. The last story features all 5 of the previous big words.
The stories are cute. The Sprinkle Fairy's friends, the sprinklers are cute and enthusiastic. The introduction of the big word in the story seems to distract from the story being told, but I guess that's part of the fun.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Kids Can Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
The stories in this book are for younger readers. They feature a boy named Cris and his Cat, Crat. There is also a Sprinkle Fairy who likes to wave her wand and add a big word to each story. For the story of the missing donut, the word is Purloined. It includes a pronunciation guide and plenty of definitions. Each of the first 5 stories includes a new big word. The last story features all 5 of the previous big words.
The stories are cute. The Sprinkle Fairy's friends, the sprinklers are cute and enthusiastic. The introduction of the big word in the story seems to distract from the story being told, but I guess that's part of the fun.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Kids Can Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
July 26, 2021
I'm not a fan of this one, but my kids like it. There are six short stories of sequential art. Five of them introduce one big word each and then the sixth story puts all the words together. The five words in this book are: purloined, discombobulated, bamboozled, smithereens and galoshes. The art is minimal, just the characters on a white page with only as many extraneous elements as are absolutely necessary to the stories.
Cris, a boy, and Crat, a cat, are a traditional odd couple, with Cris being stodgy and Crat being frivolous. There's also the Sprinkle Fairy and her Sprinklers, who have something to do with the big words. If there's any message to the story, it's inconsistent. Sometimes actions have consequences, other times, not so much. But I think it's more likely that no thought was given to the stories beyond the focal words and trying to make them a little silly.
I find the story and the art to be lacking. But the point is to introduce new vocabulary, and that part works.
Cris, a boy, and Crat, a cat, are a traditional odd couple, with Cris being stodgy and Crat being frivolous. There's also the Sprinkle Fairy and her Sprinklers, who have something to do with the big words. If there's any message to the story, it's inconsistent. Sometimes actions have consequences, other times, not so much. But I think it's more likely that no thought was given to the stories beyond the focal words and trying to make them a little silly.
I find the story and the art to be lacking. But the point is to introduce new vocabulary, and that part works.
October 27, 2018
The Missing Donut by Judith Henderson, illustrated by T.L. McBeth. PICTURE BOOK. KIDS CAN PRESS, 2018. $13. 9781771387880
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Told is seven separate stories, each story uses one big word and builds the tale around defining and remembering the word. There is a Sprinkle Fairy and Sprinklers used in each story that alert the reader to the big words. The final story reviews each big word.
My kids are still using the words they learned in this book, especially “smithereens”. The stories themselves are random and not particularly notable, but the form could be used to model how to write stories based on the students’ own vocabulary words.
Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Told is seven separate stories, each story uses one big word and builds the tale around defining and remembering the word. There is a Sprinkle Fairy and Sprinklers used in each story that alert the reader to the big words. The final story reviews each big word.
My kids are still using the words they learned in this book, especially “smithereens”. The stories themselves are random and not particularly notable, but the form could be used to model how to write stories based on the students’ own vocabulary words.
Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
August 15, 2018
"The Missing Donut" has a fantastic concept for an elementary book. This is a chapter book for beginning readers. The chapters are episodic. In each one, the author introduces a big word: purloined, discombobulated, bamboozled, etc. This would make a great read aloud for teachers and parents and it would promote great discussions. With all the "big" words out there, I think the author could have chosen better than galoshes and smithereens. Also, I don't know why she had the words come from Italy. If they truly came from Italy, they would be Italian. I think we need to emphasize that people speak foreign languages in foreign countries at a young age. Too many people think English is (or should be) a universal language.
July 29, 2019
Unfortunately, this book showed up only in black-and-white on my borrowed Kobo. I guess that's OK because it was only an experiment to figure out how to download books from my library.
Then I got intrigued and decided to read it. It's loaded with humour. I was charmed (I'm sure I would have been more so if the illustrations had been in colour.) This chapter book features five stories starring Cris, who likes things in a row, Crat, his cat, who likes to mix things up, and the Sprinkle Fairy, who creates the words in a factory in Sicily (where the best words come.) Sprinklers are the Sprinkle Fairy's helpers. In each tale the Sprinklers sprinkle a new word. This word is explained at the end of the story. At the end of the book is A Small Play On Big Words that uses all this vocabulary.
Then I got intrigued and decided to read it. It's loaded with humour. I was charmed (I'm sure I would have been more so if the illustrations had been in colour.) This chapter book features five stories starring Cris, who likes things in a row, Crat, his cat, who likes to mix things up, and the Sprinkle Fairy, who creates the words in a factory in Sicily (where the best words come.) Sprinklers are the Sprinkle Fairy's helpers. In each tale the Sprinklers sprinkle a new word. This word is explained at the end of the story. At the end of the book is A Small Play On Big Words that uses all this vocabulary.
July 16, 2018
*I received an e-galley from Netgalley in return for an honest review.*
A collection of 5 short stories in which a big vocabulary word is introduced. Pronunciation is given and kids have the opportunity to use context clues to figure out the meaning. The definition is given at the end of the story. The last story combines all 5 words into one story, or their word play. Stories are made up of dialogue between the boy, Chris, and his cat, Crat. I think this would be a great book (and appears to be a series) for 1st and 2nd graders and could have instructional use for upper grades as well.
A collection of 5 short stories in which a big vocabulary word is introduced. Pronunciation is given and kids have the opportunity to use context clues to figure out the meaning. The definition is given at the end of the story. The last story combines all 5 words into one story, or their word play. Stories are made up of dialogue between the boy, Chris, and his cat, Crat. I think this would be a great book (and appears to be a series) for 1st and 2nd graders and could have instructional use for upper grades as well.
January 27, 2020
Crat and a boy are in a series of short stories, which each introduce a new big word. Crat takes the last donunt, squirrels steal a radio, Crat borrows a bike, and they go to an art museum.
Well, Crat needs to learn to be responsible. This book presents plenty of opportunities to talk about what to do when you eat the last food item someone else had their heart set on, bang up someone else's stuff, or accidentally break something. Crat isn't the best example. I do like the big words introduced though.
Well, Crat needs to learn to be responsible. This book presents plenty of opportunities to talk about what to do when you eat the last food item someone else had their heart set on, bang up someone else's stuff, or accidentally break something. Crat isn't the best example. I do like the big words introduced though.
June 5, 2018
This book pleasantly tries to get words like "discombobulated", "purloined" and "galoshes" into your child's vocab, but is that exactly your priority? No, thought not. Still, the way the words are shown in context, one at a time and then in one 'drama' at the end as revision is the right way to go about it. The short stories for each word vary in quality, the presentation is fine – it's just the reasoning behind it I have to doubt.
December 14, 2018
As an adult word nerd, I love reading this book with my 3-year-old son, whose language development is ahead of the curve. After only a few readings, he’s already walking around dizzily, saying, “Mommy, I’m discombobulated!” and the other day, after I dropped something, he told me it was smashed to smithereens. Don’t believe anyone who says the big words are too big for little kids - it’s never too early to start building a great vocabulary!
June 14, 2018
This is such a great book to teach context clues with! It’s also at the perfect level for students who enjoy graphic novels but might not have the stamina for something too long. I also really enjoyed the illustrations! Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!
January 30, 2020
This reader is perfect for kids who have gone beyond elephant and piggie but aren't quit ready for a chapter book. It focuses on learning a few new words in each segment like "purloined" an has very silly humor and cute illustrations. To me the lack of panels makes for a little too much chaos.
January 31, 2022
Written in short, comic-style chapters, this book teaches kids 'big' vocabulary words in a way that they may even remember them. It was a cute book. I think they enjoyed it more than I did... but that is fine by me.
August 3, 2018
Wonderful story that teaches big words. Great for a readaloud for older kiddos. Will buy for library
September 2, 2018
Entertaining short, short stories with big words.
October 11, 2018
Although I liked this and think kids might as well, it slightly reminded me of The Weighty Word Books which I loved and were for an older audiance. A series might be fun vocab builders.
November 15, 2018
I enjoyed a lot of this: the big words, the humorous asides, the personalities of the characters. I just struggle when there's so much going on in each page. But overall, our family liked it.
November 22, 2018
A very cute story in seven short chapters, showing the use of a few big words - such as purloined. The characters demonstrate and define each word. Fun story and illustrations.
December 10, 2018
Simple cartoonish illustrations but the text helps readers understand how to use some big words!
December 24, 2018
Don't see this book, which is about 5 short stories, working as a full group read aloud. Would be nice for a beginner reader though.
January 8, 2019
Brilliant way to introduce "big words"/new vocabulary to a young audience.
February 19, 2019
Clever way to learn some new vocabulary.
March 21, 2019
Don't be "bamboozled" into thinking this is a simple book that will "discombobulate" you. You should "purloin" a copy and enjoy it by laughing so hard you will explode into "smithereens"!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews