Hewitt Anderson's Great Big Life

Young Hewitt Anderson is sweet, smart, polite--and very, very small. This warmly humorous tale is "proof that, when it comes to heart, physical size isn't the whole story" (Kirkus Reviews).

Descended from a long line of giants, the J. Carver Worthington Andersons take their height very seriously indeed. You see, without exception all of the many J. Carver Worthington Andersons have been giants until now. And poor Hewitt--hidden in the floorboards, trapped in the flour vat, lost in the bedsheets--has his struggles being tiny. Oh, his parents worry: How will their son manage to live in a world of big things? Leave it to Hewitt to prove the power of being small.

Inspired by the tale of "Jack and the Beanstalk," the inimitable Jerdine Nolen tells an original story of bravery and the power of the individual. Kadir Nelson's imaginative and loving illustrations create a world where smallness rules--a world that children will want to return to again and again.

Author: Jerdine Nolen
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Published: 01/01/2005
Pages: 40
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.01lbs
Size: 11.38h x 9.28w x 0.39d
ISBN: 9780689868665
Audience: Ages 4-8

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5.6
Point Value: 0.5
Interest Level: Lower Grade
Quiz #/Name: 85044 / Hewitt Anderson's Great Big Life


Award: Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens - Recommended


Review Citation(s):
Multicultural Review 09/01/2005 pg. 102
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2005 pg. 284 - Below Average, With Minor Flaw
Black Issues Book Review 11/01/2005 pg. 47
Ingram Children's Advance 01/01/2005 pg. 35
Kirkus Review - Children 12/15/2004 pg. 1206
Booklist 12/15/2004 pg. 731
Ebony 02/01/2005 pg. 28
Publishers Weekly 01/24/2005 pg. 243
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 02/01/2005 pg. 260
Black Issues Book Review 03/01/2005 pg. 66
School Library Journal 05/01/2005 pg. 92

About the Author
Jerdine Nolen is the beloved author of many award-winning books, including Big Jabe; Thunder Rose, a Coretta Scott King Illlustrator Honor Book; and Hewitt Anderson's Great Big Life, a Bank Street Best Book of the Year, all illustrated by Kadir Nelson. She is also the author of Eliza's Freedom Road, illustrated by Shadra Strickland, which was an ALA/YALSA Best Fiction Nominee for Young Adults; Raising Dragons, illustrated by Elise Primavera, which received the Christopher Award; and Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm, illustrated by Mark Buehner, which was made into a movie by the same name. Her other books include Calico Girl, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year, and Irene's Wish, illustrated by A.G. Ford, which Kirkus Reviews called "delightful and memorable" in a starred review. Ms. Nolen is an educator and lives in Ellicott City, Maryland.

Kadir Nelson is an award-winning American artist whose works have been exhibited in major national and international publications, institutions, art galleries, and museums. Nelson's work has won the Coretta Scott King Award, the Robert F. Sibert Award, two Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Awards, and the 2005 Society of Illustrators Gold Medal. His beloved, award-winning, and bestselling picture books include We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball; Thunder Rose, written by Jerdine Nolen; Ellington Was Not a Street, written by Ntozake Shange; Salt in His Shoes, written by Deloris Jordan and Roslyn M. Jordan; and many more. Kadir lives in Los Angeles.