The Wicked Big Toddlah Goes to New York

March 7, 2011
In this sequel to The Wicked Big Toddlah, about a humongous boy from rural Maine, Hawkes imagines a family vacation to Manhattan. Wide-eyed, cheerful Toddie, who stands several stories tall, travels to the city atop a train. As in the original, Hawkes's humor depends on Toddie's size and his parents' bumpkin observations and accents: Toddie marvels at the "staaahs!" on the ceiling of Grand Central Terminal, and his Pa proclaims Times Square "busier than Rupert's Bait Shop on Memorial Day weekend!" With so much to do, Toddie and his parents lose track of one another ("I thought you had him," a worried Ma says to Pa). In a perhaps inevitable King Kong allusion, Toddie climbs the Empire State Building, wearing his hunting cap and clutching an F.A.O. Schwarz teddy. "Ma! Pa! Where ahyah?" he hollers, and the family soon reunites. Hawkes pairs caricaturish sketches of Toddie with gorgeous blue summer skies and skillful renderings of iconic landmarks. This reprise might have taken greater advantage of Manhattan and Maine insider jokes, yet some New Englanders will feel a quaint kinship with the Paul Bunyanesque boy. Ages 4–8.

March 1, 2011

Still called "Toddie" (though now he looks more like a preschoolah), the Bunyanesqe Mainer first met in The Wicked Big Toddlah (2007) tours the Big Apple—both with and without his normal-sized parents. Awed by the city's scale even though he himself is tall enough to brush Grand Central Station's starry ceiling, Toddie enjoys a Yankees game ("HOMAAH!") but loses his parents when the train they are on pulls out during a moment of distraction. He suffers momentary pangs but then enjoys an afternoon playing in Central Park and environs with ant-sized fellow urchins. At last he does the King Kong thing to find his errant custodians (who get all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge before they realize they have lost their towering son). The next morning he wades out to the Statue of Liberty before taking a seat on (literally) the train home. Hawkes decks his gargantuan tourist out in loud summer casuals topped by a red buffalo-plaid wool cap, surrounds him with crowds that take even less notice of him than his parents do and finishes off the lark with a bit of goofery as Toddie is forced to return a certain oversized "souvenir." A memorable excursion for city residents and would-be tourists alike. (Picture book. 5-7)

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April 1, 2011

PreS-K-In a follow up to The Wicked Big Toddlah (Knopf, 2007), Hawkes takes his young giant to the Big Apple where his size seems to attract little notice. The story begins on the endpapers with Toddie astride a train, a look of high expectation on his face. Grand Central Station, Times Square, and Yankee Stadium fill the boy with amazement, but when his parents seemingly disappear in the crowds, he bursts into tears. At first, he is distracted by friendly children and a visit to the Museum of Natural History (where his height allows him to pet the dinosaurs' heads), but he soon finds himself alone. His solution? He climbs the Empire State Building and shouts "MA! PA! WHERE AHYAH?" Following a happy reunion, the trio takes in one more sight before heading home. The gleam in Toddie's eye as he carries the Staten Island Ferry across the bay to the Statue of Liberty suggests the "wicked" boy's next prank. Sure enough, the final pages show Miss Liberty in Toddie's backyard in Maine. Final endpapers put things to right as, with NYPD helicopters overhead, the Statue, tied securely atop a train, heads back where she belongs. Hawkes effectively handles the perspective of the boy's size in relation to other characters and to the hugeness of the depicted buildings; however, the tall tale is little more than a vehicle to showcase Manhattan landmarks. Readers east of the Hudson as well as those intrigued with the Toddlah's early adventures will be the book's biggest audience.-Barbara Elleman, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst, MA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2011
Preschool-G Toddie is not just big; hes Paul Bunyan sized. And his New England accent is as broad as the rest of him. When the toddler and his parents come to the Big Apple, he can touch the stars on the Grand Central Station ceiling and takes up quite a bit of room at Yankee Stadium. But when he is lost, his size comes in handy. Filled with clever written and visual details, a surprise ending (he brought home what?!), and bold, in-your-face artwork, this sequel to The Wicked Big Toddlah (2007) will be fun to read aloud.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2011
If your preschool crowd was tickled by the Down East "Toddlah's" first tall-tale appearance (The Wicked Big Toddlah, rev. 7/07), they'll enjoy Toddie's new adventure. Enormous though he is, Toddie's still young to be on his own, so Ma warns, "You better hold on to me. We don't want to lose you." But though Toddie is pretty conspicuous, looming as he does above the New York City crowds, she and Pa lose sight of him. Alarmed at first, the boy soon makes friends with normal-sized toddlers in Central Park, who enlist him in games like London Bridge (Toddie's the bridge). He visits the museum dinosaurs ("Nice doggie!"), then climbs the Empire State Building, King Kong-fashion, and spies his relieved parents. The story extends to the endpapers, with Toddie perched atop the southbound train from Maine in front and, at the end, Lady Liberty (apparently an unauthorized souvenir) riding a train back to New York, secured with giant bungee cords, NYPD helicopters hovering. It's not easy being big, but it's a great source of humor in Hawkes's energetic, cartoony illustrations of the winsome giant and the spacious scenes he dwarfs, where almost everyone matter-of-factly accepts his presence. If there's less comical engineering here than the first time out, the logical development still provides plenty of laughs. joanna rudge long

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)