Henkes, Kevin. World and Everything in It, The. Kevin Henkes, Illus. Greenwillow, 03/2023. [32]pp. Picture Book. Trade $19.99. 978-0-06-324564-8. GRADES Preschool – 1. HIGH ADDITIONAL.
The concept of size is described in a clever way in this story that contains repetition: “There are big things and little things in the world.” The text goes on to name things that a preschooler is likely to see, such as animals, flowers, the sea and sun, and more, so the reader can grasp the idea of big and small. The lovely, full-color illustrations were created with brown ink and watercolors, depicting things and people in a naturalistic way. This is more of a description than a story, and emergent readers will find it easy to guess some of the vocabulary due to clues in the artwork. This will both stimulate a child’s thoughts as well as have a calming effect on how to understand the world.
Penny Peck—San Jose State University iSchool