🟢 KidLit Book Review: BIG by Vashti Harrison

RATING: 🟢 Recommended

REVIEWER: Oceana Mooney

REVIEW METHODOLOGY: Louise Derman-Spark's Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children's Books

---

BIG by Vashti Harrison follows a young Black girl and her experience with fatphobia and bias. She starts as a bright, joyful baby and grows into a loving child. Suddenly though, everything changes, as she is told by classmates and teachers alike that she is too big. She is told she is too big to sit on Santa’s lap, too big to fit on a swing, and too big to fit in with her classmates.  Ultimately, she decides that she does not deserve this judgment or treatment and that she is perfect regardless of society's messages. 

The author/illustrator shows the main character’s experience of feeling invisible but all too visible at the same time by drawing the character larger than life. As the pressure mounts, she grows and grows, wearing a mountain costume for a ballet performance and stomping offstage leaving craters in her wake. We see a transformation in the character when she literally breaks out of the pages. Harrison creates a fold-out illustration of the girl physically creating more space for herself in the world and letting everyone know that she likes who she is. 

The book is brutally honest. Realistically written peers of the main character yell painful taunts, such as “moo,” “cow,” and, “whale,” which metaphorically emphasize the false idea of being “too big.” But this is also a book that empowers children who are experiencing similar things to know that they are not alone. Body positivity and being able to take up space are both incredibly pertinent topics that need to be discussed by everyone. Still, when reading with a child I would recommend adding conversations around ways the community can make movement around these topics so that the ultimate onus is not put on children to change their own self-perspective but instead on collective work and change. 

---

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

REVIEWER BIO: Oceana was a student Portland State University and took Zapoura Newton-Calvert's Social Justice in K12 Education course. Growing up in rural Oregon, she was able to create connections with those in her community creating a fervent passion for advocacy and equity. She graduated in March 2024 and plans to work in social services.