Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* A tiny dog named Itty Bitty finds an enormous bone and, after chewing door and window holes in it, hollows it out to make a house. The empty bone doesn't feel quite homelike, though, so Itty Bitty drives into the city to visit a department store. Beyond the gigantic chairs and rugs, he finds the TEENY-WEENY Department, where he chooses an itty-bitty table and an itty-bitty rug . . . / an itty-bitty sofa and an itty-bitty lamp. There's even an itty-bitty book. He carts his purchases away and turns his empty bone into a cozy home. In the colorful ink-and-acrylic illustrations, Bell uses line, color, texture, and white space extremely effectively to create this diminutive character and his world. Itty Bitty, drawn with a highly simplified body and stick legs, is dwarfed by the daisies and grass surrounding his home and sometimes appears quite vulnerable (and who wouldn't be, driving a three-wheeled, walnut-shell vehicle among full-size cars?). But more often, this small, stalwart character looks as capable and confident as every young child would like to feel. With its irresistible repetitions of itty-bitty and occasional comments in speech-balloons, the simple text reads aloud well. Unpretentious, endearing, and enormously satisfying, this little book is one that children will ask for again and again.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Where does a tiny dog find just the right decor for his hollowed-out-bone house? Why, the "teeny-weeny department" at a huge store downtown, of course! Such is the premise of this sweet and silly picture book that introduces a sunny pup of small size but big personality. Itty Bitty, a tan-colored dog not even as tall as a blade of grass, just wants to feel comfy in his new digs. A spread that shows him speeding down the road on his shopping trip, riding on a tricycle fashioned out of a walnut shell, is laugh-out-loud funny. Bell's (Bee-Wigged) crisp acrylic and ink artwork features blocks of color and simple stylized shapes on grainy, speckled backgrounds. Itty Bitty is reminiscent of a character Ed Emberley might create in one of his drawing books-a square body, triangle head and stick legs. But his pinpoint eyes, gentle smile and frequent exclamations of delight ("Satisfactory!") give him lots of warmth. Ages 3-7. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Good things come in small packages, including this book. When Itty Bitty, "a very, very tiny dog," finds a "very, very enormous bone," he turns it into his new home. The house feels empty, however, so he goes out to buy some furniture, driving to the store in his walnut-shell vehicle. Everything Itty Bitty sees there is huge, and he worries that he won't find anything suitable until he notices a sign pointing to the "Teeny-Weeny Department." He returns home with his tiny car loaded to the brim with everything he needs to make his new dwelling cozy. Children will enjoy this simple story about finding a place for oneself. The colorful illustrations, done in acrylic with ink, add cheer to the delightful story. The text is simple enough for beginning readers, and the book also makes a great read-aloud with small groups.-Kate Neff, Alachua County Library, Gainesville, FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
A story for anyone who has ever felt a little too...little. Itty Bitty, a very tiny dog, finds an enormous bone and decides to burrow into it. However, making a home is no small task, especially for someone so teeny. Bell's acrylic and ink illustrations are bright and dynamic, reinforcing Itty Bitty's optimism and can-do attitude. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Itty Bitty may be the most aptly named pooch ever, but here he moves with inspiring confidence through normal-sized city and country alike. Puttering beneath towering daisies aboard a walnut-shell tricycle in Bell's small, retro-style scenes, the stick-legged Itty Bitty comes upon a bone big enough to live inonce he's gnawed out a door and windows, that is. Some furnishings then being in order, down the highway to town he drives. The department store's full-size furniture draws a dismayed "Whoa," but big signs point to the "Teeny-Weeny Department," where he finds not only itty-bitty rugs and itty-bitty sofas, but itty-bitty books, too. In no time his new place "felt like home," and in the closing vignette he nestles down in his new digs for a cozy nighttime read. Children will do the same with this terse, appropriately diminutive but definitive assurance that size really doesn't matter. (Picture book. 5-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
