The Sad Little Fact

by Jonah Winter, Pete Oswald (Illustrator)

Overview

A New York Times bestselling author and the #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator of The Good Egg deliver a perfectly timed, funny read-aloud about the importance of telling the truth.

There once was a fact who could not lie.

But no one believed him.

When the Authorities lock the sad little fact away, along with other facts, the world goes dark. But facts are stubborn things. With the help of a few skillful fact finders, they make a daring escape and bring truth back to brighten the world. Because after all, "a fact is a fact" and that's that!

Truth be told, this spare, ingenious story reads like a modern-day parable. Bestselling author, Jonah Winter, and the #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator of The Good Egg, Pete Oswald, pair together to remind us of the importance of honesty and truth during a time of lies and fake news.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525581796
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	05/07/2019
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	232,341
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Jonah Winter is the award-winning author of more than forty nonfiction picture books that promote environmental awareness and social and racial justice. Among them are Here Comes the Garbage Barge!; Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. vs. Inequality; My Name is James Madison Hemings; Barack; The Founding Fathers!; and Lillian’s Right to Vote, a Jane Addams Children’s Book Award recipient and Kirkus Prize finalist. Visit him at jonahwinter.com.

Pete Oswald is the New York Times bestselling illustrator of The Good Egg, as well as The Bad Seed, which was an Amazon Best Children's Book of the Year in 2017 and an indie favorite. He has worked as a character designer, a concept artist, and an art director on many popular films including Madagascar 2, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and Angry Birds. He has several picture books in the works, including The Good Egg, a sequel to The Bad Seed. .

Editorial Reviews

02/25/2019

Winter (Elvis Is King!) and Oswald (The Bad Seed) imagine a fact as a small, mottled blue circle with big eyes and spindly arms and legs—a vulnerable critter who is nonetheless certain and resolute about one thing: “A fact is a fact.” The watercolor- textured digital drawings show how the “Authorities”—dark, skinny, faceless figures with red gloves—bury all the facts deep underground, then release “a bunch of lies” that resemble the facts and terrorize others (one group of these nonfacts can be seen carrying off a citizen and dog to an unknown fate). But a tenacious group of “fact finders,” spades in hand, liberate the real facts (“The Earth revolves around the Sun!” one freed fact declares. “And people are causing the Earth to get warmer!” chimes in another), and while the deniers continue to ignore the authentic truths, the facts now know that they aren’t alone—there are those “with minds to think and a need to know.” Is it biting commentary or agitprop? The phrase fake news is never mentioned, but the targets couldn’t be clearer. Ages 3–7. (May)

Publishers Weekly

A TIME MAGAZINE BEST CHILDREN'S BOOKS OF THE YEAR

“A humorous and inviting story that just begs to be read aloud.... A modern day parable on the importance of honesty in life.” —The Advocate

From the Publisher

06/01/2019

K-Gr 3—The story begins "There was once a fact." That fact is a cute, fuzzy, blue ball with big eyes. As something with proven veracity, it seems as though there shouldn't be anything remarkable about the fact. It should be accepted as truth. Instead, the fact is confronted with disbelief and apathy. These are tough enough to stand up to, but then comes those with deliberately insidious intentions. The Authorities, long-limbed and red-gloved, are faceless entities that seek to bury the fact and replace it with more convenient untruths. Hope lies with the "fact finders," well-intentioned beings armed with hardhats and spades, working to dig out the fact and its brethren. The world is dark when truth is buried, and only by bringing the facts back into the world is brightness restored. The book feels like an obvious response to issues in today's political and media climate but unfortunately oversimplifies a complex and nuanced topic, without examining the societal and personal circumstances that contribute to individual beliefs. The illustrations are colorful and provide a clear visual contrast between those determined to crush the facts, those determined to bring the facts to light, and the sad little fact itself, emphasizing the threats that exist in this allegorical world. However, just like with the text, adult readers may see real-life and potentially alienating parallels in the illustrations. The ability to evaluate and parse information is an undeniably crucial skill, but on its own this book may be too abstract and far-reaching for picture book audiences. Incorporating critical thinking exercises related to evaluating credibility and accuracy (and even defining those terms), conversations about misinformation online, and extensive follow-up discussions to expand the topic may help provide a more grounded contextual understanding for young readers. VERDICT Timely and thought-provoking, this book may be challenging for young readers unless partnered with support and critical discussion with adults.—Alyssa Annico, Youngstown State University, OH

School Library Journal

2019-02-17

A colorful fable about facts and fake news.

Winter and Oswald try to take on the current scourge of fake news, presenting the titular "sad little fact" as a circular blue splotch with skinny limbs and bewildered eyes. "No one took the fact seriously," intones the text as various multicolored shapes ignore the fact. The Authorities, tall, menacing, and depicted in black from the waist down, "demanded that the sad little fact admit that it was not a fact." The fact is buried underground with its peers even as "a bunch of lies created by the Authorities were taking over the world outside the box." Only "a hardy band of fact finders," depicted with miners' hats and shovels, fights back, digging into the earth and letting the facts ("The Earth revolves around the sun!" "And people are causing the Earth to get warmer!") out into the light. The facts themselves are cute, but this doesn't quite work as a parable or as a picture book. The story jerks around confusingly with unpolished prose. Constant repetition of the word "fact" puts readers at risk of lexical satiation. Propaganda and manipulation of the truth are ancient problems, but this story feels like a dashed-off response to current events rather than a deeply considered philosophy; the underlying message is likely to fly over the heads of young readers while being too simplistic for older audiences.

Aimed at adults rather than children. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews