The Big Pets: 7

It's a quiet, mysterious book which draws the reader into a magical world. I really enjoy this book, it reminds me of Maurice Sendak's books.

Kids love this quiet book with fabulous pictures of giant pets and small children. The sparse text resonates with kids, especially those who find the world a little too large for them at times and whose pets comfort them. This is one of my all-time favorite kids' books: I read it myself when I feel overwhelmed, and I've given a copy to every child I know now.

Lane Smith's illustrations are rich and dense with colour, yet have a soft chiaroscuro effect to them. This is a fantasy story, where independent children play in wondrous locales with their big (huge!)pets. The book reads like a poem. The fun the children have with the big pets is reminiscent of the fun Maurice Sendak's Max has in "Where the Wild Things Are". "The Big Pets" however, does not have a social message or moral to it - just a sense of wonder and joy.