Perfectly paced for reading-aloud, The Giant, by Greg Bellows, tells a timeless story about a petite boy known as Little Tuck. While everyone around him is worrying about his size and what will become of him, Tuck uses his wit, creativity and super-sized courage to save his hometown from disaster. Good things do come in small packages, after all.
Little Tuck isn’t just small—he is teeny-tiny. Little Tuck is too minuscule to ride a roller-coaster, and his mother insists he keep training wheels on his bike even though he knows how to ride. Everyone he knows seems to spend all their time worrying about him.
Then, one quiet October evening, a mean, loud, greedy giant comes to town for a visit. Terrified, the town’s people give him everything he asks for. Because he is very hungry and a bully, he decides to stay and eat the town out of house and home; he stays for months.
One day, Little Tuck has a brilliant idea. Without thinking of himself or his safety, the boy hero gathers up what he needs and bikes off to challenge the giant and save his community.
Bellows’ rollicking, engaging story takes a classic fairy tale structure and makes it feel new. Children of all ages will cheer for young Tuck as he uses his smarts and a few really big ideas to save the day.
While sentences in the narrative are often too long and more paragraph breaks would have been welcome, the read-aloud appeal of The Giant is clear as a bell. Children — and all of us for that matter — love it when a little guy wins. Readers will especially delight in sharing Little Tuck’s clever victory!
Also available as an ebook.
