WINNER OF THE 1995 CHILD MAGAZINE
CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD
From The New York Times:
Billy is enchanted by his parents' tales,
and urges them on by giggling and saying "Big!"
While "The Biggest Boy" demonstrates a sensitivity
to a child's desire for some kind of power in a
world in which he has very little real say,it also
depicts parents creating a fantasy life for their
child on the child's own terms.I couldn't help
contrasting this with Margaret Wise Brown's
classic picture book"The Runaway Bunny."
Cristina posing for "The Biggest Boy."
From Horn Book:
"This collaboration of two award-winning book
creators presents a favorite childhood theme–
growing up.The bold,colorful,oversized illustrations,
done in watercolor inks and black pen,add to the
fun of the game played by Billy and his parents."
From Booklist:
Like MacKinnon's "What Size?" and Jenkins' "Biggest, Strongest, Fastest" , this picture book has fun with size and power. Billy is a big boy who can eat with a fork, get dressed by himself, and reach up high. His parents tell him how big he's growing every day. Soon he'll need new clothes. Soon he'll go to school and ride a bike. Billy says he'll be bigger than his parents: "I'll be the biggest boy in the world." They all imagine Billy as a giant who can drink up lakes and blow the clouds and hang the rainbow round his neck. Then back to the real world, where he's "just the right size" for a boy his age. The extra-large pages have big, clear illustrations in soft watercolor inks and black pen; the pictures show Billy with his toys at home and then as a giant against the sky, wearing the roof of his house as a hat. The story enters right into a child's imaginative play.
