Are You Big?

by Mo Willems

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

A creative depiction of perspective, with readers learning just how small they are in the grand scheme of things. Don’t worry though, Mo Willems brings it home with a feel-good ending.

Mo Willems, #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning author-illustrator, tackles a BIG concept in this hilarious nonfiction picture book about the relationship between size and scale.  
 
Are YOU big?
 
A simple question sends readers to the far reaches of the universe. From an average-size kid . . . to a hot air balloon . . . to a storm cloud . . . to the M100 Galaxy, size is a matter of perspective.
 
Bold text, expressive art, and real-world science come together in this original Mo Willems STEAM-based, early-learning concept book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454948186
Publisher:	Union Square Kids
Publication date:	02/06/2024
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	43,045
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD330L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Mo Willems is a number one New York Times bestselling author and illustrator and the inaugural Education Artist-in-Residence at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He has been awarded three Caldecott Honors from his picture books, and two Theodor Seuss Geisel Medals and five Geisel Honors for his celebrated ELEPHANT & PIGGIE early readers. His debut book, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, was inducted into the Picture Book Hall of Fame. Mo began his career as a writer and animator on Sesame Street, where he garnered six Emmy Awards.

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/30/2023

Willems (Opposites Abstract) takes the idea of relative size and pursues it all the way out into the universe in this conceptual title. “Are you big?” a narrating voice asks via bold, blocky text that occupies the book’s verso pages throughout. On the adjacent recto, a lilac-faced human figure stands expectantly on stick arms and legs. A page turn later, a bespectacled red balloon appears: “A hot air balloon is big.” The now-smaller-seeming stick figure peers up at it. Next, a cutout cloud strides onstage atop long legs, dwarfing the hot air balloon and the figure: “A cloud is big.” As the pattern continues (“A storm is big”), balloon and cloud shrink comparatively, and the stick figure is reduced to the size of a pencil eraser. Then Australia shows up, shrinking the stick figure to the size of a pencil point. As larger—and more galactic—entities arrive, the line of dwarfed objects grows longer, until a late entrant hints at the possibility of a parallel series of objects growing smaller and smaller. Size depends entirely on context, Willems hints in this spare, sprightly thought experiment, whose back matter compares all of the objects included at scale. Ages 3–5. Agent: Marcia Wernick, Wernick & Pratt. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Are You Big?

“The illustration style, with the look of dimensional paper collage, represents a different direction for Willems, but his sense of fun is as strong as ever . . . . Just when children may feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the world around them, a closing twist turns the comparison around. Make a (little) space for another winner from Willems.”—Booklist

“Careful, clever utilization of scale and composition allows Willems to capture the magnitude of his subject matter within a petite trim size . . . . This is a playful introduction to the importance of perspective that brings big laughs.”—Horn Book STARRED Review

“Size depends entirely on context, Willems hints in this spare, sprightly thought experiment.”—Publishers Weekly STARRED Review

"[A] rare combination of scientific backing, read-aloud humor, and a concrete message about where one stands in the grand scheme of things…Vast charm in a (relatively) small package yields big laughs.”—Kirkus STARRED Review

“[A] pleaser for younger readers and listeners who are feeling small; for those who might wonder just how much larger the Moon is than Australia, or for that matter, a galaxy cluster than an average kid (a lot of zeroes in that one) . . . . A big idea, explored inventively, to intrigue any young audience.”—School Library Journal
 

“Mo Willems puts a new spin on concepts of relative size in ‘Are You Big?’ His collage artwork in this simple but entertaining picture book for 4- to 8-year-olds is brash and fun, with sharp color contrasts and comic exaggeration.” —Wall Street Journal

Praise for The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster!

“Willems’ spare illustrations put the spotlight right where it belongs, on the Pigeon’s incredibly expressive body language, flapping and flopping through the comic panels. The Pigeon is one multifaceted bird, and this latest is one of the best in Willems' flock of Pigeon adventures.” —Booklist, starred review

“Roller-coaster enthusiasts or not, children will eagerly join our intrepid hero on this entertaining ride.” —Kirkus Review

“Whether you opt to dive into the entire series or just have a ‘smidgeon of pigeon’ with the newest title, Mo Willems never disappoints.” —SheKnows

 

From the Publisher

01/01/2024

K-Gr 2—Carrying size comparisons out to the far reaches of the universe, Willems follows up Opposites Attract with another concept book that is only ostensibly for the Oshkosh set. Putting stick limbs and noseless faces on a set of suggestive simple or geometric shapes opposite terse observations in poster-sized type, the author responds to the titular question with a series of successively bigger things—from a hot air balloon to a cloud, a tropical storm to Australia, and so outward in stages from the Moon to a full galactic cluster—and then turns all that perspective on its head by asking "So, are you big?" and having a tiny bug answer: "You are to ME!" That twist should prove a pleaser for younger readers and listeners who are feeling small; for those who might wonder just how much larger the Moon is than Australia, or for that matter, a galaxy cluster than an average kid (a lot of zeroes in that one). Willems closes with a list of numerical estimates. VERDICT A big idea, explored inventively, to intrigue any young audience.—John Edward Peters

School Library Journal

★ 2023-12-06
Size may be relative, but that doesn’t mean it can’t also get silly.

How large or small a kid is can take on outsized importance, so right from the start, an unseen narrator poses the titular question. Well, what is “big,” exactly? Our stand-in, purple-skinned child is placed next to an anthropomorphized bespectacled hot-air balloon. After all, hot-air balloons are big. On the next spread, the balloon is beside an even larger cloud. And beside the cloud? A storm. When the continent of Australia walks onto the scene, grinning wide, dwarfing the storm, we get a hint of how ridiculous things are about to get. And indeed, in walks the moon. Then Earth. Then the sun. Then the star Pollux, and beyond that are galaxies and galaxy clusters. Suddenly the question returns. “So, are you big?” A little bug cries out, “You are to ME!” Further facts about relative sizes appear at the story’s end, as well as a necessary caveat that the images are not to scale. With aplomb, Willems plays with textures, colors, and layering in a style that resembles cut paper. Meanwhile the steady one-upmanship of the large bodies allows for the rare combination of scientific backing, read-aloud humor, and a concrete message about where one stands in the grand scheme of things.

Vast charm in a (relatively) small package yields big laughs. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews