My favorite way to spend time with my four-month-old is reading a good book to her. I read the same books over and over again. She can’t ask me to read to her yet, But I know she loves it because I can see when I get out a book that her eyes scan the pictures and she often reaches her little hand out to hold the cardboard pages.We have a lot of children’s books, but since I’m reading 4-5 a day, let’s just say I’m starting to unintentionally memorize all the words. So when Little Pickle Press offered to let me review the new illustrated children’s book BIG by Coleen Paratore as a part of their blog tour, I was thrilled to add  new to add into the rotation.

BIG is no ordinary children’s book. It has beautiful illustrations by former greeting card illustrator (how cool is that?) Clare Fennell and an amazing message about what it means to “get big.” As the youngest child in my family, I could certainly relate to feeling small and dreaming about the day I could be big and do all the fun things my older sisters could do. I’m sure every child sometimes feels like this sometimes. BIG shows them that it’s possible for even the littlest child to make a difference in the world–and that’s an empowering message I want my little one to hear over and over again.

The moral of the story is this: Being big is about being the best you can be and contributing in your own way to making the world a better place. It’s the same message I hear lots in yoga classes, too: Start where you are. Do what you can. And know that even the smallest efforts matter.

My favorite line in the book sums it up nicely:

“Some people say BIG is measured by years or weight or inches. Others think BIG is how rich you are or where you live or how much stuff you own. These people are wrong.” 

Learn more about the book here.