I Don’t Want to Be Big
Written by Dev Petty
Illustrated by Mike Boldt
Doubleday Books for Young Readers  11/11/2016
978-1-101-93920-8
32 pages   Ages 4—8

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“If I were
BIG,
would I
be able to
fit between
the pages of
this book?
NOPE.
See my point?
[INSIDE JACKET]

“Frog does NOT want to grow up. Doesn’t need to be tall. Doesn’t want to be able to ump high enough to see the tree frogs. He’s just FINE being small. Besides, if you grow up, you don’t get to do fun things like jump in mud puddles with your best friend, Pig. Do you?” [PUBLISHER]

Review
Dev Petty and Mike Boldt return with a sequel to I Don’t Want to be a Frog, with I Don’t Want to be Big. Frog has gotten over his desire to be anything but a frog and is now happy he is what he is—a frog. Now, Frog does not want to get big. He wants to stay a little frog for the rest of his life. To that end, Frog does not want to eat his dinner. Frog reasons an ant stays small so why can’t he stay small. No, he doesn’t want to be an ant. They are not going back down that road, as funny as it would be. Frog really just wants to stay a small frog. Patient dad asks his son different questions to find out why the young frog doesn’t want to be big.

“Don’t you want to be tall?” Dad asks.
“I have you to be tall for me,” replies frog. Dad does carry frog around a lot.

Frog has an answer to dad’s every question, sometimes with a question of his own. Then pig waddles into the story and tells frog some of the good reasons to be big, like being closer to the sun. Of course, Frog has an answer for pig, too.
Kids worried about getting older and not being able to play, as they do now, will enjoy Frog’s predicament. Frog understands kids’ feelings about who they are and what they want to be, and how important play is in their lives. Frog expresses those frustrations and fears young children have about the world around them. Just like Frog, kids may be afraid to move on to the next grade and afraid of the responsibilities of getting older and losing their childhood.

Frog also understands it is okay to be small. There are big advantages to being small, like dad carrying him everywhere and lifting him up when he cannot see. Small children will appreciate Frog understanding what it is like to be smaller than the other kids are.

I Don’t Want to be Big and I Don’t Want to be a Frog are both perfect as read aloud stories for a library story hour or the classroom. Boldt’s brightly colored, larger than life illustrations are the perfect size for a group of children. Speech bubbles replace story text and make it easy to see who is talking. Parents will like Frog’s sensitive side and his playfulness. Young children can identify with Frog and his worries.
Sometimes it takes a friend to help you sort out how you are feeling. Pig steps in as Frog’s friend. Pig helps Frog understand, “Growing bigger doesn’t mean you have to grow up.” Pig and Frog—and Dad—jump into a big puddle of mud to prove out Pig’s point.

Frog may or may not be hinting at a third book when he tells dad—after jumping into the mud with Pig, “But, I’m never taking a bath.” Good for you, Frog. Lt’s hope this is a hint and Frog comes back to us readers once more.

I DON’T WANT TO BE BIG. Text copyright © 2016 by Dev Petty. Illustrations copyright © 2016 by Mike Boldt. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Doubleday Books for Young Readers, New York, NY.

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Reprinted with permission from I DON’T WANT TO BE BIG © 2016 by Dev Petty, Doubleday BYR, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, Illustrations © 2016 by Mike Boldt.

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Copyright © 2016 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved

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I Don’t Want to be Big
Written by Dev Petty
Illustrated by Mike Boldt
Doubleday BYR 11/11/2016
9781101939208