Todo es relativo (Primeras travesías)

by Claudia Rueda

Un pequeño ratón intenta escapar de un aterrador gato negro. Ambos inician una larga persecución en la que se encuentran con todo tipo de situaciones, lugares y animales. Esto los lleva a descubrir que todo es relativo. Porque la percepción de las cosas puede variar de uno a otro. ¿Será este el final del pobre ratón, o será tan sólo el principio de otra historia?

A little mouse tries to escape from a terrifying black cat. They embark on a long chase, encountering all kinds of situations, places, and animals. This leads them to discover that everything is relative and perceptions of things can vary depending on who you are. Will it be the end for the poor mouse, or will it be but the start of another story?

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Cats, Animals, Childrens, Juvenile, Dogs

24 pages, Board Book

Published April 1, 2011

About the author

Claudia Rueda is a Colombian picture book author, New York Times Best Seller illustrator and a 2016 Hans Christian Andersen and Astrid Lindgren award nominee. Her books have been published throughout North America, Europe and Asia and have been translated into more than ten different languages.

Reviews

[afin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Big or little, far or close, scary or not it all depends on from where you're seeing things

[Sayda Mitchell-Morales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to teach students about perspective/ point of view!

[Leonardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

No todo es relativo señora.

[Dara J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked it up in the kids section of the library on a whim. Fascinating depiction of relative perspective with clean, minimal illustrations and text. Also developmentally appropriate for young children learning that other people have different perspectives.

(It's not revolutionary or pretentious, but it's entertaining and I can see that thought went into it so I nerded out a little bit)

[Stephanie Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's just ok

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

43424)

[Beth Gea · Rating 3 out of 5]

No he entendido el final xD

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comparative adjectives contrast a mouse and cat.

[Robin Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very effective on showing that size is related to the viewer's perspective. Great for growing brains. Great payoff.

[Maeghan Nutmeg Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the high-contrast illustrations.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how this book shows that how something is depends on our perspective.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

About the importance of context! Fun, and a fun way to learn.

[Carlie Lattanzio · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is for very young children. I would recommend it to children under the age of five. You can connect this book to the lesson of opposites. Each page starts with one opposite then the next page says the opposite of the word. The pictures are kind of boring as well. I do not think it would keep a child interested. Overall, I do not think this is a good childhood.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explore opposites and perspective in this little book. It is the story of a mouse and a cat, who chase across the pages, changing the perspective the reader sees from on each page. Is the ball of yarn big as seen by the mouse? Or is it little when seen by the cat? Deep water for the mouse becomes shallow when the cat heads in. Light objects for the mouse are heavy for ants. And even the most scary creature can also be scared themselves.

Rueda’s text is done in simple questions that show the opposite concepts clearly. The real draw of this book are the illustrations which have a minimalism that is very appealing. Done entirely in grays, black and orange, the illustrations have a pop edge to them that is both graphically pleasing and has great touches of humor.

Bright and bold, this book approaches opposites and perspective with a clever storyline and elegant illustrations. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My almost-five-year-old son picked this book out from our local library last week.

This is a concept book, a book of opposites. I admire anyone who can write an entertainingly concept book, especially if there is something of a story to it. What is big, or deep, or long to a mouse will be little, or shallow, or short to a cat. The artwork is simple done is black and white and orange/red, and is excellent at propelling the story.

As a cat-owner, I might have liked this book a bit more if I had known that the cat at the end would escape. He looked a bit too much like our Buster for my son's comfort.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

How we regard things is all a matter of perspective as this book shows in a series of examples. An orange ball, for instance, seems big to a tiny mouse, but not so big to a cat. As the mouse tries to evade the cat through several pages, readers will notice that the author has employed antonyms all the way to the end when the feline gets its comeuppance, and the end--or possibly the beginning, has been reached. Readers will enjoy following the line of orange that starts on the first page and then ends up tangled around the cat at the book's conclusion.

[Mother Goose Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sublime tale of opposites/perspective told through illustrations of a cat that is chasing a mouse. Is it big (mouse with a ball) or is it little (cat spying mouse on other side of ball)? Black, white, and gray illustrations with highlights of red (i.e. ball). A surprise ending and new perspective when a dog begins to chase the cat! Simply fun read aloud that could be used as a discussion of point of view. Art teachers may also enjoy using this book as springboard for discussion of perspective.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful concept book to use in grades K-2! This book illustrates perspective AND opposites, and lends itself to amazing discussions with little folks who are learning to use the vocabulary of opposites. This one is sure to be a favorite for classroom teachers.

The simple pictures will inspire adults to encourage kids to illustrate an opposite book of their own. A cut paper and crayon extension activity is sure to be on the horizon.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reads like a series of questions in which the answers vary depending on your perspective. The artwork centers around a cat chasing a mouse and the color palette used consists of black, white, red, and gray.

This would be a fun read aloud and I think kids will find it inspiring. I;d like to see what sorts of situations they could dream up that might look different from multiple perspectives. PreK-2.

[The Library Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

The graphics here are striking--done in black, white and orange. This is more sophisticated than it looks. There are a minimum of words used, but this was have little appeal to toddlers or early preschoolers who will not get the perspective concept. On the other hand, this will work well with older preschoolers and early elementary age kids.

Oh, and my cat loving 14 year old wants to object to this book because it's mean to the black cat!

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is Big or Is It Little? by Claudia Rueda is an entertaining concept book. Questions of opposites were ask on each page. This brought about good discussion during story time because what might be considered large to the mouse is actually small to the cat. The illustrations were simple enough yet neither of us were able to understand the mouse carrying the string until the end of the story. It was a little confusing but a pleasant surprise.

[Ruth Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is is Big? Or is it little? Well maybe both and this book is very cute. The mouse and cat work their way through opposites, deep, shallow, light, heavy. Then it goes is it scary or scared. This breaks the pattern of opposite but it still makes for a good story for the youngest readers. The simple illustrations are mostly orange and black with lots of whitespace in the background.

[Drew Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some things are big and some things are little, but some things only SEEM big and some things only SEEM little. It's all a matter of perspective.

This was an interesting take on an opposite book, throwing in the concept of perspective at the same time, but I don't know, something about it sort of fell flat for me. The illustrations didn't stand out and overall it wasn't very memorable.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of questions and pictures showing the concepts of big/little, shallow/deep, etc. as well as how perception makes a difference. Sparse text and bright illustrations make this a fun read aloud for toddlers. Preschoolers may enjoy it, too, with lots of opportunities for engagement and discussion.

[Rodrigo Morlesin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the simple and clean way Claudia tells the story. Is not a book about contrasts is a everyday story with a fun and dynamic point of view of a common problem.
I read it some months ago in the spanish edition.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 4 out of 5]

My five year old giggled over this story of a mouse chased by a cat, in which things turn out to be opposite of themselves when seen from a different perspective-- something looks big next to the mouse, but little next to the cat, etc.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a simple yet entertaining way to show "point of view" to young children. The question of if something is big or little all depends on how big the item is being compared to. A leaf to an ant is enormous! Perfect for kindergarten age children and younger.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book teaches subjectivity. also, I guess it could teach these concepts, but maybe for really early learners it might just confuse them. I used it, and the parents liked it, but the pictures are a bit small for a big group.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Age: Preschool-1st grade
Concept Skill: Perspective and sizes

This book provides a nice look at perspectives and how something big can actually be quite small when compared to something else. Rueda only uses black, white, and red to help the listener focus on the sizes of objects.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to use to illustrate the concept of perspective. Although the text is short and simple, the concepts are sophisticated. I love the clean, eye-catching illustration style, as well,