The Littles--A Review

What is it about tiny people or creatures that captures our imaginations? Be it the Faery Folk, tiny animals as heroes, or minute people, stories about the smallest of beings draws us in in a big, big way.

Boo recently finished The Littles by John Peterson. He enjoyed it so much and wants to read more. We have several in the series thanks to a fortuitous trip to the Half Price Bookstore. I found five or six for 50 cents each! Cannot turn that kind of bargain down!

The Littles are four-inch high "people" who live in the walls of the house of the Bigs. They look just like ordinary people with the exception of their lovely tails that they are immensely proud of.

In this Little adventure the Bigs go off on a trip and rent the house to a couple called Newcomb. The Newcombs are nice people, but incredibly messy and leave trash lying around. Who likes mess and trash? Mice!!

Mice come to the house. The Little take have to take on, not only the mice, but the method of mouse control the Newcombs choose.

The recommendations on this book are 3rd grade or ages 9-12. I think a younger child with a good grasp of reading could handle this on their own and it would be a marvelous read aloud for children much younger. Chapters aren't long and the book could be read in brief sittings for those with shorter attention spans.

The Littles always makes me think of The Borrowers by Mary Norton. The Borrowers was one of my all time favorite books as a child and I've read all of the series to the boys and Roo read them again on his own later. Mary Norton published TheBorrowers in 1952. Peterson published The Littles in 1967.

Both books, in my opinion, are fabulous choices for children. The Littles, by the American Peterson, is a much simpler read and can be read solo by a much younger audience. Written by British Norton, The Borrowers offers a much more complex style and vocabulary and a much more detailed story line, not to mention just more reading because of the size of the books. Both have been made into movies or cartoons. Surprisingly both books have the same age recommendation--however The Borrowers would be a much more challenging read and would appeal to more grown-ups.