It's Just So...Little!

2017 INDIES Finalist
Finalist, Picture Books (Children's)

Clarion Rating: 5 out of 5

It’s Just So … Little! is the perfect book to ease children into having a new sibling.

Lizzy is a young red-headed girl with a lot of energy. One fall morning, she realizes she’s outgrown her favorite jacket, and her mom tells her she’s growing and that she’ll soon be a big sister to a new baby. Anxious about her own growth and that of her family, Lizzy finds a sapling tree outside and decides to help it become a tree.

She brings it inside, and through fall, winter, and spring, she watches the tree grow buds and leaves. By the time it’s ready to plant, her mother has the new baby and Lizzy feels ready to care for something so little again.

Lizzy’s adventures are related through rhyme schemes that are expertly crafted by the authors, who have backgrounds in children’s musical theater. Each page of rhyming verse is paired with a refrain of “It’s just so…” in playful font at the bottom of the page. These phrases convey the story from a child’s perspective. For instance, when the rhymes describe that Lizzy’s jacket is now too small, the bottom refrain states, “It’s just so pinchy!” When Lizzy starts to feel anxiety about the new baby, her emotion is conveyed by “her tummy [feeling] strange.”

The book’s use of the changing seasons and Lizzy’s growing out of her own clothes—both very common points of reference for children—serve as effective tools for easing general anxieties about change. The writing style is at the perfect level for young children as well. The stanzas also appear in zigzag to further illustrate the disorienting feeling of worry. The full-color, full-page pictures pair nicely with the text.

The second in a series, It’s Just So … Little! is the perfect book to ease children, ages three to six, into having a new sibling, or to help them deal with any anxiety about something unexpected on the way.

Reviewed by Amanda McCorquodale

Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

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