The Tiny Wish

PreS-Gr 2—A small girl experiences an exciting adventure against a backdrop of breathtaking Scandinavian mountain scenery and among a host of adorable animals. Illustrated with superb, crisp, and richly colored digitized photographs, which are the real standout here, the rather pedestrian story tells how Anja shrinks to minuscule size after wishing to be tiny during a game of hide-and-seek with two cousins. Suddenly, the world looks very different as she encounters grass the size of trees and soars aloft on the back of a bird and a pinecone. Children should be able to suspend disbelief easily and will be delighted to imagine themselves as Anja does—coming face to face with a gigantic squirrel, duck, and rabbit and sailing in a "boat" made out of a sliver of tree bark. Clever manipulation of the images shows tiny Anja in stark size and spatial contrast with her surroundings and its various denizens; parents, teachers, and librarians should take advantage of the opportunity to stimulate math-themed conversations with children. In the end, Anja awakens, full-size, in her cousin's bed, and believes it has all been a dream—or has it?—Carol Goldman, Queens Library, NY