The Lonely Giant by Sophie Ambrose- OPTIONAL

Ambrose, Sophie The Lonely Giant. PICTURE BOOK. Candlewick Press, 2016. $17. 978076368225

There is a giant who loves to bash and crash all day long. He knocks down mountains, he yanks out trees, and scares all of the animals away. Eventually, he bashes and crashes so much, that there are no places for any animals to live and he is running out of wood for his fire at night. He finds that he misses the birdsong and animal noises. One day a small yellow bird follows him while he destroys things and sings to him. He loves the bird’s song and catches her in a cage so that he won’t be lonely anymore. The bird gets sadder and sadder and the giant lets her go. When he can’t find her again, he decides to fix what he has broken to bring all the animals back.

I like how the giant makes a mistake in this book and owns up to it to fix the problem himself. I think that’s a good lesson that most children don’t always see, or understand. I don’t like how there isn’t really any major conflict in the story and it’s wrapped up a little too quickly and neatly. The illustrations are really lovely and do a great job of first showing how the forest is slowly destroyed, and then later, how it slowly regrows.

Pre-K, EL (K-3)- OPTIONAL. Shay, School Librarian