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So Big!
A simple, clever text paired with utterly adorable animal characters makes school-day jitters seem not so big after all!
Bear is so big, and he's ready to start school!
But even if you're SO BIG, you might feel a little nervous at times.
Can Bear brave his first day and find a way to make it feel just right?
A clever and charming story, So Big! will help young readers through all the important first steps in life.
Acclaim for Dad's First Day
Bank Street Best Children's Books of 2016--outstanding merit title
Acclaim for Moo!
An ALA Notable book
A BCCB Blue Ribbon selection
Bear is so big, and he's ready to start school!
But even if you're SO BIG, you might feel a little nervous at times.
Can Bear brave his first day and find a way to make it feel just right?
A clever and charming story, So Big! will help young readers through all the important first steps in life.
Acclaim for Dad's First Day
Bank Street Best Children's Books of 2016--outstanding merit title
Acclaim for Moo!
An ALA Notable book
A BCCB Blue Ribbon selection
Unknown Binding
Published July 1, 2019
1 person is currently reading
45 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
March 23, 2020
In only a few words, readers will feel the highs and lows of their very first day of school. Sometimes we feel soooo big when we’re old enough to start something brand new. Other times, we feel NOT so big when overwhelm kicks in. This book could be great for the beginning kindergartener in your life or the soon-to-be college student. All the feels, right here! The artwork was created with Holbein Acryla gouache paint on hot press watercolor paper.
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
February 3, 2020
This book was a perfect pick for my playtime group, which is overwhelmingly 2-year-olds (with some older kids sprinkled in, too). It was great because the littles had no trouble sitting through it-- the book is short-- but there are also many opportunities in this story to build multiple literacies (characters have visible feelings that aren't reflected in the text, which makes for great interaction). Solid!
January 14, 2020
In 6 distinct words, with no more than 2 or 3 of those words per page, this book expertly depicts first day of school jitters. Adorable illustrations.
July 8, 2020
So Big! by Mike Wohnoutka. PICTURE BOOK. Bloomsbury USA. $18. 9781547600793
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K. EL (K-3)- ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
Bear is SO BIG! He is ready to start school. He can get himself dressed. He can pour his own cereal and milk. He can pack his backpack and tie his own shoes. He is very excited for this new adventure in his life! The bus stop and bus ride present the reader with other first timers riding to school. Bear braves the bus ride very well, until he sees the BIG new school! Suddenly he doesn't feel so big anymore! Does Bear have enough courage to enter through the school doors and finish out his first day off school?
Mike Wohnoutka does it again! So Big is by far the best picture book we've ever read to help little ones prepare for their first day of school. The illustrations are breathtaking and so telling! The repetitive text SO BIG helps describe the emotions of each page, but the illustrations stand alone in sharing the story and the emotions Bear is experiencing. We simply loved So Big!
Reviewer: SL
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K. EL (K-3)- ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
Bear is SO BIG! He is ready to start school. He can get himself dressed. He can pour his own cereal and milk. He can pack his backpack and tie his own shoes. He is very excited for this new adventure in his life! The bus stop and bus ride present the reader with other first timers riding to school. Bear braves the bus ride very well, until he sees the BIG new school! Suddenly he doesn't feel so big anymore! Does Bear have enough courage to enter through the school doors and finish out his first day off school?
Mike Wohnoutka does it again! So Big is by far the best picture book we've ever read to help little ones prepare for their first day of school. The illustrations are breathtaking and so telling! The repetitive text SO BIG helps describe the emotions of each page, but the illustrations stand alone in sharing the story and the emotions Bear is experiencing. We simply loved So Big!
Reviewer: SL
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
November 30, 2019
Very simple text - only a few words.
Bear is excited to be big enough to start school - until he sees the bus and then the school. Readers can follow the simple wording to see how bear is feeling. He meets a friend, and together, they figure out that school is okay.
Use with preschoolers and kindergartners during the first week.
Bear is excited to be big enough to start school - until he sees the bus and then the school. Readers can follow the simple wording to see how bear is feeling. He meets a friend, and together, they figure out that school is okay.
Use with preschoolers and kindergartners during the first week.
August 9, 2019
A very positive picture book about first-day jitters when starting school. Bear is “so big,” a refrain that carries through the entire book. He is big enough to get himself dressed. He is so big that he can make his own breakfast too. He packs his own bag, ties his shoes, and heads out to the bus stop. But when the bus gets there, it is so big! The kids around him are big too. So is the large school. Bear is worried and sits down on the steps. There he notices a smaller child hesitating to go in too. The two join hands and head into the big school together where they discover that it’s not too big after all.
Wohnoutka’s story is told in the simplest of words by repeating “so big” and other phrases multiple times. It’s a story about confidence that starts strong, is lost along the way and rediscovered too. The bravery that it takes to try something completely new and then the resilience that is necessary to keep moving forward even when scared is shown deftly in this simple story.
The art is bright and centers entirely on Bear and the other children. Perspective is used very effectively to show how large the bus, the children and the school appear to a small child. Other times when he is more confident, Bear takes up space on the page and the perspective shifts to allow that.
Great for first day jitters, this book is simple and effective. Appropriate for ages 2-4.
Wohnoutka’s story is told in the simplest of words by repeating “so big” and other phrases multiple times. It’s a story about confidence that starts strong, is lost along the way and rediscovered too. The bravery that it takes to try something completely new and then the resilience that is necessary to keep moving forward even when scared is shown deftly in this simple story.
The art is bright and centers entirely on Bear and the other children. Perspective is used very effectively to show how large the bus, the children and the school appear to a small child. Other times when he is more confident, Bear takes up space on the page and the perspective shifts to allow that.
Great for first day jitters, this book is simple and effective. Appropriate for ages 2-4.
July 11, 2019
This book uses the common concept of teaching children how big they are getting. However, it goes even further to relate with the child as he or she develops and reaches milestones. The child gains a perspective on how big (or small) he or she is in relation to a school bus, large animals such as a hippopotamus and giraffe, and the child's soon to be school building. The child feels small until getting into school and sitting at the desk with school kids of the same age and then the child feels "just right" as the book points out at the end.
This book also plays on the words So Big and spells it out in small letters, big letters and elongated words "S-s-s-0-0-0-0- big!" It's a very expressive and well illustrated book with a cute bear as the one going through each milestone. This is another example of a book that could be a great board book!
Reviewer 1
This book also plays on the words So Big and spells it out in small letters, big letters and elongated words "S-s-s-0-0-0-0- big!" It's a very expressive and well illustrated book with a cute bear as the one going through each milestone. This is another example of a book that could be a great board book!
Reviewer 1
November 22, 2019
Bear is starting school and is proud that he is "SO BIG!" But on his way, he discovers that he is not as big as he thinks he is, and the "SO BIG" school scares him. But when a smaller classmate arrives, Bear is brave enough to get the two of them into school, and in the end they are settled into school. "Just Right!"
This is a nice back to school book, but it's also a great pattern book. A child who can't really sound things out yet can basically sight read the 8 words. And if you're an adult reading this to a child, the limited words offer a great chance to pull out all the stops with expression in your voice. The text gets larger or smaller appropriately with what's going on in the story, and the art has energy, enough to make the wordless book where the two scared classmates meet just right. I was amazed at how much more I liked this book that I thought that I would!
This is a nice back to school book, but it's also a great pattern book. A child who can't really sound things out yet can basically sight read the 8 words. And if you're an adult reading this to a child, the limited words offer a great chance to pull out all the stops with expression in your voice. The text gets larger or smaller appropriately with what's going on in the story, and the art has energy, enough to make the wordless book where the two scared classmates meet just right. I was amazed at how much more I liked this book that I thought that I would!
August 15, 2019
Very few words deliver so much meaning! It's Cub's first day of school. He wakes up feeling 'so big'. As he dresses, eats, breakfast, and waits for the bus he feels 'so big'. But when he sees the big bus, the big kids, and the really big school building, he doesn't feel as big (confident). Then he sees an even smaller friend, Squirrel who is afraid to go into the big building. So they hold hands and go in together. They find that it's not so big, and the teacher is not too big, and the classroom is just right!
January 3, 2020
As a little bear gets ready for his first day of school, he is feeling So Big! After all, he gets dressed by himself and gets his own breakfast. He ties his own shoe and packs his own backpack. He is So Big, indeed. But when he goes out to the bus, that seems so much bigger ... as do all the kids on the bus. And the school is even bigger. Suddenly, little bear doesn’t feel so big. And squirrel cries because the school is too big. But when Bear and Squirrel go inside together, things aren’t so big ... and the teacher isn’t too big.
Cute. Great read aloud for kids starting school.
Cute. Great read aloud for kids starting school.
April 29, 2020
"So Big!" has very few words, and most of them consist of "So Big!" This makes it easy for very young children to follow along. There are cute illustrations of a cub and other animals on every page. The story line is sweet and has a lot to do with overthinking. The cub was overthinking going to school and was very nervous, but he found another animal feeling the same way. This helped both of them and they had a good day at school.
July 21, 2019
In very few words, this charming picture book shows the change in perspective a child starting school goes through. He thinks he's so big at first. But then a huge school bus shows up, with enormous classmates, and an even bigger school. The main character is overwhelmed, but he eventually learns that he is bigger than some, smaller than others, and just right to help out a new friend.
August 16, 2019
Almost wordless. Large size book- great for whole group share. Liked illustrations. Story(well, there really isn't one in words) was a bit too short. Was hoping there would be more for my back to school read alouds. But I may use it to instruct students how to infer meaning through illustrations.
December 26, 2019
Age: Preschool-Kindergarten
Emotion: Excited, Overwhelmed, concern
Familiar Experience: First day of school
Large illustrations, simple text, and soft crayon-like illustrations make for a great read-aloud during the first week of school. While the text may seem overly vague, the emotions and experiences are universal.
Emotion: Excited, Overwhelmed, concern
Familiar Experience: First day of school
Large illustrations, simple text, and soft crayon-like illustrations make for a great read-aloud during the first week of school. While the text may seem overly vague, the emotions and experiences are universal.
October 14, 2020
Super simple text all about being ready for school, specifically Kindergarten. Bear is "So big" and ready for school, but then the closer he gets to school (BIG bus, BIG kids, BIG school) he isn't feel so big or so ready. He's nervous.
Simple and cute is a winning combination for a kindergarten teacher to use this at the beginning of the school year.
Simple and cute is a winning combination for a kindergarten teacher to use this at the beginning of the school year.
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July 2, 2019This book only utilizes about 5 words, and they should all be ones a kid getting ready for kindergarten could learn easily. This would give them confidence as a learner, and the illustrations in the story will help them feel ready to start school. Clever.
October 11, 2019
This is a cute first day of kindergarten book about a little bear who thinks he's big only to realize he may be small and then realize with the help of a new friend he's just right. Perfect for kids who are a little weary about starting at a big school...
December 8, 2019
A first day of school book that uses just 4 words: "So," "Big," "Not," and "Too."
Love the different feelings expressed with just those few words.
The illustrations really make the story because the text is so minimal.
Love the different feelings expressed with just those few words.
The illustrations really make the story because the text is so minimal.
March 16, 2024
Simple layout of a story for little ones starting school. It only uses four words throughout - So, Big, Not and Too, but just with these words you can easily feel the feelings that they are expressing.
June 29, 2019
Great first day of school book for preschool or kindergarten.
July 2, 2019
Minimal words (mostly just "So big!") with maximum heart. Super cute. It won me over more than I expected.
July 19, 2019
Great simple story about the first day of school.
July 19, 2019
so big so big so big until he reaches school
July 23, 2019
This is freakin’ ADORABLE. It’s aimed at younger kids, has limited verbiage, and that’s all it needs.
August 11, 2019
Great book for a toddler.
August 11, 2019
3 stars for this cute book
August 12, 2019
almost wordless
good for back to school
simple text for non sitters
good for back to school
simple text for non sitters
August 21, 2019
The text uses a small variety of words, but because of the use of text size, the message is delivered clearly.
August 29, 2019
At first I was annoyed that the same words repeat in different ways. As I read more of the story it became really sweet and charming. It's so cute! The illustrations are cute as well.
September 8, 2019
Perfect for any small child going to school for the first time.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews