Genre: Science Fiction
Author: Dan Yaccarino
Major Awards: None
Age Group: Pre-K-1st grade
This story is interesting because it is set in "Mythhattan", and in this town there is "Centaur Park", "Grand Cyclops Station", "The Lower Beast Side", along with other spin-off names of places in New York City. Giant Tess is a story about an extraordinary girl named Tess. Tess was adopted and quickly realizes she is not like anyone else she knows: she is a giant. She struggles to fit in with her peers, and desperately wants to be "normal." One day, she tries to help set up for the annual parade when havoc strikes; she breaks everything in sight because she is so giant. Defeated, she runs to a park where she meets a dragon named Smokey. She becomes best friends with the dragon because they are both the same size. In the end, she and the dragon help rescue the mayor who starts to float away in the parade. Tess never again lets her size bother her after doing such a heroic deed.
I absolutely loved this book, and would most definitely want it in my classroom! This story has such a good lesson in it about daring to be yourself. I could use this book to explain to my students the importance of being confident in who they are, and not trying to change themselves to conform to the world. I could also explain the importance of being kind and a friend to everyone, regardless of what a person may look like.
This book is a super simple read with very few words on each page, so I would say it would be appropriate for Pre-K through 1st grade. It would be a great book for an early reader to read on their own. I think that even Pre-K students who do not know how to read yet would be able to understand the plot based on the incredible illustrations on each page.
In my classroom, I could give my students the prompt, "if I were a giant, I ____." I could have the students write about what they would do if they were a giant. This puts them in Tess' shoes and makes them really think about how life is like for her. I also think it would be fun to have them draw a picture of something heavy and take a picture of them with their arms raised above their heads. I could have them attach their drawing to the picture of themselves, making it look like they are holding the heavy object, like Tess is doing on the cover of the book.
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