What fun - a kid's view of life: Little Pea, Little Hoot and Little Oink

Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a gem of a picture book author. She taps into a child's view, but then tweaks it and asks children to think about perspective. Her series of Little Books does this perfectly - getting kids to laugh about things that all parents ask them: to eat their veggies, to go to bed, and to clean their rooms. Want to laugh with your child? Check out these books.

Little Pea (2005)
Little Hoot (2008)
Little Oink (2009)
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
illustrated by Jen Corace
San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books
ages 3 - 6

These books are a delight to read. Little Pea is just a fun-loving kid who has fun playing with his friends at school. He comes home and loves playing with his dad. But then comes dinner time. "'If you want to grow up to be a big strong pea, you have to eat your candy,' Papa Pea would say. 'If you don't finish your candy then you can't have dessert,' Mama Pea would say." These lines are so universal that at first kids don't notice that there's something funny going on. I love watching children's faces as they think they're listening to this happy, ordinary story, and then it twists in unexpected ways. Wait - Little Pea's parents tell him that he must eat candy? For dinner? You mean, Little Pea doesn't want to eat his candy?

Here's a trailer for Little Oink, the newest in the series. It captures the sense of the story perfectly.


Amy Krouse Rosenthal is an author, radio host and filmmaker. Her children's books include the Little Pea/Hoot/Oink series, Duck! Rabbit!, Spoon and Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons. Duck! Rabbit! has been on the New York Times bestseller list for children for the past eight weeks. Little Oink has recently been named as one of Amazon's Best Books of 2009.

The review copies for these came from my local public library. You can find your own copies of these delightful books at your local library, an independent bookstore, or Amazon.