The Littles

The Littles

Chapter Book

Information for students

Author: John Peterson Title: The Littles

Book Genre: Fantasy Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc. (94pgs)

Summary: This is part of a series about little people. Mrs. Little is about to have a baby and there is a huge snow story. The problem is that Aunt Lily usually delivers the Littles baby because she is their nurse, but lives four houses down. That normally is not a far walk unless you are a tiny person. Cousin Dinkey is flying Aunt Lily to deliver the baby, but she is captured by the “ground littles,” which are afraid of the “tree littles” and had no idea that the “house littles” even exist. But do not worry, Aunt Lily makes friends and makes it to where she needs to go just in time.

Personal rating: ****

Rationale: The plot in this story is adventurous and interesting. This is a story that could be read as a read-a-loud or independently, depending on the reading level.

Information for teachers

Reading level: 5 Interest level: 1-5

Thematic Areas: Teamwork, friendship, survival

Content Areas: geography

Potential Problems or Difficulties: It may be difficult knowing that the Littles are little people at first, if they have not read previous books.

Possible use in classroom: Talk about the different methods of travel in the book and list ways that they could be helpful and ways that they may not be helpful. Do a character mapping of the “ground littles,” “tree littles,” and “house littles” to see how they are similar and different. Write a different ending to the story…what would have happened if the “ground littles” had not taken Aunt Lily to the Littles house.