Bigger Than You

by Hyewon Kyung, Hyewon Kyung (Illustrator)

Overview

Playground antics have never been so much fun! Young dinosaurs play together on the playground until one dinosaur gets angry and tries to ruin the game for everyone.

This engaging tale is perfectly pitched for preschoolers and for fans of Byron Barton’s Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs and Jane Yolen’s How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?

A group of young dinosaurs builds a seesaw and takes turns playing on it until the bossy, big, and TERRIBLE Tyrannosaurus interrupts their game in a fit of temper. All ends well, though, when Mom steps in and encourages a peaceful and a productive end to the conflict.

Hyewon Kyung’s detailed and humorous illustrations will capture the attention of dinosaur fans, and a dinosaur information chart and educational backmatter about simple machines make this perfect for classroom, family, and story-time sharing!

“I’m bigger than you!” announces the Iguanodon.

“I’m bigger than you!” argues the Triceratops.

“I’m MORE TERRIBLE than you!” yells the Tyrannosaurus.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062683120
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	07/31/2018
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.80(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Hyewon Kyung is the author and illustrator of Bigger Than You. She lives in South Korea.

Hyewon Kyung is the author and illustrator of Bigger Than You. She lives in South Korea.

Editorial Reviews

04/30/2018
Dinosaurs with skins of subtly graded hues inhabit a misty Mesozoic forest, giving the spreads of this story a mysterious, otherworldly atmosphere. By contrast, its demonstration of comparative weight and balance couldn’t be clearer. “Who wants to play with me?” asks a lilac-colored dimetrodon, who teeters on one end of a big log balanced on a rock. An orange dinosaur (a minmi, the dinosaur guide at the back of the book explains) mounts the other end, driving the dimetrodon up into the air. “I’m bigger than you,” the minmi says. Drama builds as larger and larger dinosaurs step onto alternate ends of the log, and to underscore the action, the type grows larger, too. Working in hanji (traditional Korean paper) and paint accented with watercolor, Kyung creates scenes in green and silvery gray—that is, until a fire-engine-red Tyrannosaurus rex shows up, and the emotional temperature rises (and the log takes some punishment). Dinosaurs, physical action, playful repetition, and things that grow bigger and bigger will grab the attention of even the wiggliest listeners. Ages 4–8. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Kyung brings principles of simple machines effortlessly to the preschool level in this engaging tale of dinosaurs on a prehistoric playground...This successful mashup of fiction and science, in the style of Jason Chin’s Gravity, is a must-have for early childhood classrooms.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

“Using brushwork that evokes traditional East Asian ink drawings, Kyung creates minimalloy detailed prehistoric scenes...A whimsical lesson in Mesozoic good manners, with an added treat for young STEM-winders.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Dinosaurs, physical action, playful repetition, and things that grow bigger and bigger will grab the attention of even the wiggliest listeners.” — Publishers Weekly

“The whimsical pictures were created on hanji, traditional Korean paper made from mulberry trees…this simple lesson about sharing uses minimal text, but the message comes through loud and clear. ...will appeal to preschool paleontologists.” — ALA Booklist

“Curvilinear young dinosaurs rendered in watercolors one-up one another on a seesawing log. ...Can there possibly be too many simple stories about dinosaurs for preschoolers? Of course not! This one will make a big hit at storytime.” — School Library Journal

“With each turn of the watercolor-dappled page comes a new and slightly larger dinosaur to disconcert the one before. When toothy Tyrannosaurus gets outmatched by colossal Brachiosaurus, he changes the rules: I’m more terrible than you!”...[but] order is restored—and the young reader’s perspective widens—with the arrival of a much larger dinosaur: “Mom!” — Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

The whimsical pictures were created on hanji, traditional Korean paper made from mulberry trees…this simple lesson about sharing uses minimal text, but the message comes through loud and clear. ...will appeal to preschool paleontologists.

ALA Booklist

With each turn of the watercolor-dappled page comes a new and slightly larger dinosaur to disconcert the one before. When toothy Tyrannosaurus gets outmatched by colossal Brachiosaurus, he changes the rules: I’m more terrible than you!”...[but] order is restored—and the young reader’s perspective widens—with the arrival of a much larger dinosaur: “Mom!

Wall Street Journal

Kyung brings principles of simple machines effortlessly to the preschool level in this engaging tale of dinosaurs on a prehistoric playground...This successful mashup of fiction and science, in the style of Jason Chin’s Gravity, is a must-have for early childhood classrooms.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

With each turn of the watercolor-dappled page comes a new and slightly larger dinosaur to disconcert the one before. When toothy Tyrannosaurus gets outmatched by colossal Brachiosaurus, he changes the rules: I’m more terrible than you!”...[but] order is restored—and the young reader’s perspective widens—with the arrival of a much larger dinosaur: “Mom!

Wall Street Journal

Kyung brings principles of simple machines effortlessly to the preschool level in this engaging tale of dinosaurs on a prehistoric playground...This successful mashup of fiction and science, in the style of Jason Chin’s Gravity, is a must-have for early childhood classrooms.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)

07/01/2018
PreS-K—Curvilinear young dinosaurs rendered in watercolors one-up one another on a seesawing log. From dimetrodon to brachiosaurus, they progress in size and competitiveness until a baby T. rex behaves terribly and his mother intervenes and insists that they all play nicely together. The seesaw becomes a slide and all ends happily. A spread in the back lists the pronunciation of each species of dinosaur and indicates how long ago they lived. The last page introduces simple machines and how levers and inclined planes work. VERDICT Can there possibly be too many simple stories about dinosaurs for preschoolers? Of course not! This one will make a big hit at storytime.—Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Library, NY

School Library Journal

2018-03-27
Dinosaurs on the playground (and readers who might wish to join them) get schooled both in physics and in the pleasures of noncompetitive play. Taking alternate ends of a log balanced on a round rock, a succession of ever larger dinos asserts supremacy over the playmate on the opposite end, smugly crowing "I'm bigger than you." But the tantrum a bright red T. Rex throws after being outweighed by a brachiosaur brings a change of perspective in the form of a much-larger T. Rex: "And I'm your mother!" With parental help, the log is pushed so that only one end is elevated, thus converting it to a slide that puts all of the dinosaurs on the same footing. Using brushwork that evokes traditional East Asian ink drawings (according to the production note she uses Korean paper and paints), Kyung creates minimally detailed prehistoric scenes featuring a cast of slightly anthropomorphic but recognizable dinosaurs. They are all identified, along with size gradations ranging from "Big" through "Massive" and "Immense" to "Biggest," in a closing gallery, which is followed by diagrams that explain, with a dollop of wry humor, the differences between a seesaw ("lever") and a slide ("inclined plane").A whimsical lesson in Mesozoic good manners, with an added treat for young STEM-winders. (Picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews