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A Tiny Family
A tiny girl and her tiny brother--who live with their tiny family in a lovely garden--embark on a perilous journey into the house of a giant to retrieve their grandfather's umbrella. Original.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
1 person is currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Norman Bridwell
429 books239 followersNorman Bridwell was an American author and cartoonist, best-known for the Clifford the Big Red Dog series of children's books. Bridwell attended John Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana. He lived on Martha's Vineyard, MA, where he wrote an average of two books a year.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 25, 2021
I own this edition since my mom bought it for me when I was 7-years old (obviously, a loooong time ago!), and I still love this simple story!
January 23, 2015
I loved reading this early Norman Bridwell book and comparing it to the Clifford series concept. This one is a treasure.
January 16, 2021
This is an adorable children's tale that I have read to my kids many times over the years!
April 6, 2016
Fabulous illustrations.
March 25, 2011
I think this might have been the first book I ever bought with my own money (in second grade in 1968 ... back when we got to order Scholastic books from a catalog and have them delivered to us in the classroom a few weeks later). I was so excited - until I got the book and discovered that it was infantile. It had about one sentence on every other page. I guess I was expecting an epic novel. Oh well, that memory has stuck with me for over 43 years. The problem was that even the illustrations were too juvenile for my tastes. Maybe if I had been a couple of years younger in 1968...
June 13, 2012
Follow a tiny family, who lives in a garden, as they complete their daily tasks of making breakfast, washing clothes, collecting vegetables, cooking dinner, and playing. All seems well, until a giant girl disappears with a treasured mini-umbrella. Read as the tiny girl and her brother set out to get her grandpa’s umbrella back.
This is a good story with a lesson at the end of it. Children will learn about cooperation and returning items that don't belong to them.
This is a good story with a lesson at the end of it. Children will learn about cooperation and returning items that don't belong to them.
February 27, 2009
My 6 year old learned: we do not sneak into other peoples rooms, and climbing is not very safe.
Its easy to get along with others, even giants and tiny people can get along if the talk to one another.
Great early reader/picture story book!
Its easy to get along with others, even giants and tiny people can get along if the talk to one another.
Great early reader/picture story book!
July 14, 2023
This week, I'm reviewing A Tiny Family, a 1960s book by a creator that everyone is already very familiar with, Norman Bridwell (of Clifford fame). As far as I know, this book was never even issued in hardcover. Still, I have loved this book since I was a kid, and honestly, I was worried I would not be able to separate my nostalgia from the craft of the book. Maybe I can't. But here I am, having read, and re-read (and re-read it), and yep: as far as I'm concerned: STILL A BANGER!
With absolutely no offense to Mr. Bridwell, who has achieved rightful levels of stratospheric success I can only dream of, the overall writing of this story is very secondary to the art, which does most of the storytelling on its own. In fact, the art is so strong and specific that the words often repeat what's in the pictures, early-reader style. Still, the opening page's text is fabulous! "Hello. I'm a tiny girl. I live with my tiny family in a garden. Our home is under the flowers." We've got a direct-to-reader address and a premise, character cast, and setting that is vague enough to allow for mystery—but specific enough to kick imagination into high gear. How tiny is the family the title alludes to? Well, pretty tiny--since they live under the flowers! Are they fairy folk? Bug-people? It doesn't really matter—we are doing this thing, aren't we? I mean, what kid is not going to be interested in tiny people, especially a tiny child, who live(s) under the flowers?
HOT TAKE: I think Norman's superpower (besides illustration) was creating incredibly child-centered early grounded fantasy (meaning fantasy that has one foot firmly in children's reality—in this case, even their imaginary realities). And because he was so great at technical drawing, this superpower was amplified--especially regarding scale. When A Tiny Family sits on spools of thread at a mushroom table, wash their clothes in a cracked teacup, fashion a slide from a teaspoon and a broken comb, and use fireflies for flashlights...these are all things that, if a kid were to recreate them, would "work" for a family of A Tiny Family's size. The specificity in his illustrations--and thus, his grounded-fantasy storytelling--is, honestly, genius. (It's a skill he uses just as well, only in reverse scale, with Clifford.)
What else can I say about this story? It's an adventure! There are lost favorite items, retrieval from a full-sized kid in the full-sized kid's house, and all kinds of the most accessible fantasy elements a very young reader could ask for.
Pick up this book if you haven’t read it! It’s a great story value for your buck, that’s for sure!
With absolutely no offense to Mr. Bridwell, who has achieved rightful levels of stratospheric success I can only dream of, the overall writing of this story is very secondary to the art, which does most of the storytelling on its own. In fact, the art is so strong and specific that the words often repeat what's in the pictures, early-reader style. Still, the opening page's text is fabulous! "Hello. I'm a tiny girl. I live with my tiny family in a garden. Our home is under the flowers." We've got a direct-to-reader address and a premise, character cast, and setting that is vague enough to allow for mystery—but specific enough to kick imagination into high gear. How tiny is the family the title alludes to? Well, pretty tiny--since they live under the flowers! Are they fairy folk? Bug-people? It doesn't really matter—we are doing this thing, aren't we? I mean, what kid is not going to be interested in tiny people, especially a tiny child, who live(s) under the flowers?
HOT TAKE: I think Norman's superpower (besides illustration) was creating incredibly child-centered early grounded fantasy (meaning fantasy that has one foot firmly in children's reality—in this case, even their imaginary realities). And because he was so great at technical drawing, this superpower was amplified--especially regarding scale. When A Tiny Family sits on spools of thread at a mushroom table, wash their clothes in a cracked teacup, fashion a slide from a teaspoon and a broken comb, and use fireflies for flashlights...these are all things that, if a kid were to recreate them, would "work" for a family of A Tiny Family's size. The specificity in his illustrations--and thus, his grounded-fantasy storytelling--is, honestly, genius. (It's a skill he uses just as well, only in reverse scale, with Clifford.)
What else can I say about this story? It's an adventure! There are lost favorite items, retrieval from a full-sized kid in the full-sized kid's house, and all kinds of the most accessible fantasy elements a very young reader could ask for.
Pick up this book if you haven’t read it! It’s a great story value for your buck, that’s for sure!
December 20, 2016
1. Awards the book has received (if any): No awards
2. Appropriate grade level(s): K-2
3. Original 3-line summary: This piece of literature is about a tiny little girl who one day encounters a giant girl. The giant girl disappears with the tiny girl’s grandpa’s special umbrella, and the tiny girl sets out to get it back. By the end of the story the giant girl and the tiny girl become friends and understand each other better.
4. Original 3-line review: This book has a multitude of uses which makes it an awesome addition to the classroom. The messages of not taking things that are not yours and not judging a book by its cover are critical for young students to be exposed to. The illustrations are also very engaging and great for young readers.
5. 2-3 possible in-class uses: This book could be used to teach opposites. It could also be used in lessons regarding accepting others despite their differences.
2. Appropriate grade level(s): K-2
3. Original 3-line summary: This piece of literature is about a tiny little girl who one day encounters a giant girl. The giant girl disappears with the tiny girl’s grandpa’s special umbrella, and the tiny girl sets out to get it back. By the end of the story the giant girl and the tiny girl become friends and understand each other better.
4. Original 3-line review: This book has a multitude of uses which makes it an awesome addition to the classroom. The messages of not taking things that are not yours and not judging a book by its cover are critical for young students to be exposed to. The illustrations are also very engaging and great for young readers.
5. 2-3 possible in-class uses: This book could be used to teach opposites. It could also be used in lessons regarding accepting others despite their differences.
April 23, 2012
A cute little story about a tiny family (little girl, little boy, and grandfather) who live under the flowers in the garden. When a "giant" girl finds Grandpa's umbrella and takes it to her room, the kids try to reclaim it.
I think I would have loved this story as a kid. Now, the illustrations are a bit to cartoon-y for my taste and the story is sparse; though it is an easy reader, I think some of the easy readers today are a bit more cleverly written.
I think I would have loved this story as a kid. Now, the illustrations are a bit to cartoon-y for my taste and the story is sparse; though it is an easy reader, I think some of the easy readers today are a bit more cleverly written.
November 2, 2015
I currently read this book, and it was so interesting when I told this story to my young son. the tiny girl and the giant girl, they are huge diffrent but at the end of the story I could feel that they could be good friends. I also recommend this book when you teach opposite words like tiny and huge for after reading activity.
August 29, 2014
5 year old says: "I like it because the girl was kind"
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews