Lizzie overcomes her fear of dogs in this sweet picture-book, after encountering canine Cecile in the park. Timid and shy, Lizzie has to be encouraged by the quiet old man who owns Cecile to interact with his dog, but the results - happy girl, happy dog, happy old man - are definitely worthwhile.

The theme here, of a girl befriending a dog despite her fears, reminded me a bit of Kate Berube's recent picture-book Hannah and Sugar. I appreciated the idea, presented through the story, that people or animals who frighten us might find us intimidating in turn, but I also understand why some online reviewers were uncomfortable with the idea of a young child approaching a strange man alone in the park, or being encouraged to view all strange dogs as friendly. For my part, I found a few of the early sentences in Tony Johnston's text quite awkward - does "Do not be worried," said the old man of the dog timidly" indicate that the old man is speaking of the dog, or that he is the old man who belongs to the dog? - something quite unfortunate in a picture-book with sparse text. The artwork by Hadley Hooper is quite cute, and the resolution heartwarming, so A Small Thing... but Big definitely has positive qualities, but I don't know that I could recommend it wholeheartedly. ( )