About the Author

Kevin Henkes has been praised both as a writer and as an illustrator and is the recipient of the Children’s Literature Legacy Award for his lasting contribution to literature for children. He received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten’s First Full Moon; Caldecott Honors for Waiting and Owen; two Newbery Honors, one for Olive’s Ocean and one for The Year of Billy Miller; and Geisel Honors for Waiting and Penny and Her Marble. His other books include The World and Everything in It, A House, A Parade of Elephants, Chrysanthemum, and the beloved Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. Kevin Henkes lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin.

Kevin Henkes has been praised both as a writer and as an illustrator and is the recipient of the Children’s Literature Legacy Award for his lasting contribution to literature for children. He received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten’s First Full Moon; Caldecott Honors for Waiting and Owen; two Newbery Honors, one for Olive’s Ocean and one for The Year of Billy Miller; and Geisel Honors for Waiting and Penny and Her Marble. His other books include The World and Everything in It, A House, A Parade of Elephants, Chrysanthemum, and the beloved Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. Kevin Henkes lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin.

Reviews

“It can feel nearly impossible for children to imagine the scale of everything outside themselves, but Henkes invites them to meditate on just that, and everything in the world, in this poetic new book. . . . The illustrations are both colorful and muted, capturing attention while complementing the words. . . . A first purchase for every library, this book invites readers to consider the world around them in a new way.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

“Serene reflectiveness flows through this meditation by Henkes, whose simple prose initially segments the universe into two camps: ‘big things and little things.’ . . . Spare images and text, and an almost reverent stream of thought, helps illuminate humans’ comparative scale in the wide, variously populated world.” — Publishers Weekly

“Young children may feel like the world is full of things that are bigger and more important than they are. With an unerring understanding of the child’s perspective, Henkes presents simple comparisons, demonstrating how all the people and parts of the world are significant to the whole. . . . Soothing and accepting, the book reassuringly demonstrates that the world is big enough for everyone and everything.” — Booklist

“Young children are always figuring out their place in the universe. . . . This book will work on several levels. At its simplest, it’s a consideration of big and little that will be enhanced by the pictures. On another level, connections between Earth and space, between sea and land, or between animals and humans may become the focus. . . . A contemplative picture book to help young readers understand the reality of their world.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Henkes meditates on the world and our place in it. . . . Henkes’s strength is in the poetry of the everyday and finding the profound in ordinary moments, and that strength is on full display in a book that is simultaneously soothing and mind-blowing. . . . Shelve this somewhere between concept and philosophy—and get it into kids’ hands.” — Horn Book Magazine