Review: Too Tall Alice

Title:  Too Tall Alice
Author:  Barbara Worton
Illustrator:  Dom Rodi
Review Copy Provided by:  Great Little Books for Bostick Communications

About the Book:  Alice is tall. Not T-Rex or Empire State Building tall.  Just four inches taller than the other girls in her class, and Alice is worried.  FOUR INCHES! That’s a lot of inches taller than everyone else. Her mom says it’s okay to be tall, and her dad says it’s okay to be tall.  IT’S OKAY FOR THEM TO SAY THAT. THEY’RE NORMAL!  Alice wishes, really wishes, she was just like everyone else. Then, her dream takes her to the place where the tall girls live, and she sees, really sees, herself for the first time.

My Review:  What a great book for talking to kids, especially girls, about self esteem!  I was always taller than everyone in my class until I was in high school, and it really used to bother me.  Not so much that I had self esteem issues, because I've always been pretty confident, but it could have.  This is a message that all kids can benefit hearing.  The message is: It's not easy being different, it's okay though.  Just be yourself and believe in yourself.  Wow, right?  I love it!  I also love the long sentences the author uses.  For example:  "Upstairs in her room, in her super-fluffy bed, Alice tried to lay down on the pillow and arrange her arms like a princess, sure that Prince Charming would come and find her and give her a kiss."  Sentences like this are throughout the book.  The author also changes the size of words to create emphasis.  As a teacher, that is something I like to point out to my students when I'm teaching them writing techniques.  It is great to find examples by authors to show them.  The only thing that I didn't really care for is the font used in this book.  It makes the pages seem too busy for me.  This is the first children's book for illustrator Dom Rodi, and I think he did very well.  I especially enjoyed the way he depicts Alice's room like she is underwater in here Ariel bed.  It is very "Little Mermaid" like and little girls will love it!  I will be recommending this one to other teachers and my school counselor because I think it is a story with a message that young children need to hear.