The Biggest Boy

Author: Kevin Henkes
Illustrator: Nancy Tafuri
Title: The Biggest Boy
Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 1995
Genre: Books to Begin On (Relationships)
Number of Pages: 32
Reading Level (Lexile): 400L
I found this book listed in our textbook, Children’s Literature by Huck.

Plot Summary: Billy is growing and wonders about how big he can actually be. His parents begin to play along with this idea and tell him how big he will be. For example, his mom says, “If you are the biggest boy…then you can wear the roof as a hat.” Billy laughs about each idea and then goes to sleep dreaming of how big he could be.

This book relates to my theme because Billy’s relationship with his parents is shown throughout the book. His parents encourage his idea and don’t put him down for it. They imagine how big he could be with him as he laughs along. It shows how parents can foster the creativity of a young child.

I can remember my parents saying to me, “You are a big girl now, you can do that!” and encouraging me the same way as Billy’s parents did in the story. I think most children at that age are playing around with the idea of how big they are as they look at adults who are much bigger than themselves.

This is a good book for beginning readers. It is a book to begin on because it is age appropriate with young children who are exploring their size and wonder about the future. The text has a lot of decodable and high frequency words. The pictures depict how big Billy imagines he could be. The Biggest Boy would be a great book to help older students see how literary devices can enhance writing. Sentences like, “The house can be your jacket” and “…you can toss the sun up like a ball and catch it” show personification and metaphors.