The Giant

by William Pène du Bois

Another make believe story, the kind children and many adults will enjoy, displays the du Bois imagination to advantage again. In a European city that could be Paris, the author, the "I" of the story, notices a huge construction across the street from his small apartment and receives a threatening letter from El Muchacho y Cia telling him to move. He learns from the executive secretary of the company who explains discreetly that "El Muchacho" is an eight year old giant from Argentina - a real giant of a giant whose body has grown in direct proportion to the amount of food he eats. But as his character unfolds - and with it all the implications of being a giant, a young giant at that - El Muchacho turns out to be less of a terror than a charmer who sets the whole city dancing. - Kirkus Reviews

Genres: Fiction, Middle Grade

124 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

William Pène du Bois was an American writer and illustrator of books for young readers. He is best known for The Twenty-One Balloons, published in April 1947 by Viking Press, for which he won the 1948 Newbery Medal. As illustrator he was twice a runner-up for the Caldecott Medal.

The Twenty-One Balloons is the work by Pène du Bois that WorldCat reports most widely held in participating libraries, by a wide margin. His other most widely held works are five books written by others, which he illustrated (below), and the two Caldecott Honor picture books, which he also wrote.

From 1953 to 1960, Pène du Bois was art editor of The Paris Review, working alongside founder and editor George Plimpton.

Reviews

[Lars Guthrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly charming. Found this in my library's book sale quite a while ago, and remembering fondly "The Twenty-One Balloons," picked it up. Why did I wait so long to read it? Now I want to find all of Pene Du Bois's out-of-print catalog. Fantastic illustrations combined with witty text made it a real treasure. It's about an eight-year-old giant who just wants to be a boy. Even though "Twenty-One" won the Newbery in the 40s, Pene Du Bois seems forgotten. That's too bad. On the strength of the two children's books I've read so far, he's one of the greats. (I don't know why Goodreads listing has the ":2" after the title. As far as I can tell, there is only one "The Giant.")

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ya'll know The 21 Balloons, right? (if not, find it, and read it. Now.) Somehow I never knew du Bois wrote anything else, until I found an old copy of this. The illustrations are great, and the story of a very normal little boy who just happens to be ten stories high (give or take) is ridiculous and adorable. Love the quaint style!