Rereading: THE GIANT by William Pène du Bois

The author narrates this story as himself, describing how his stay at a Paris hotel leads to a startling discovery. He is on the seventh floor facing an odd featureless building of equal height with one large window opposite his own balcony. One day he looks out and sees the window entirely filled with a gigantic eye. Determined to find out more, the author investigates and learns about El Muchacho (the big one). Born in Argentina at a normal size, the child is cheerful and happy, and at first his parents are delighted with his rapid growth. That changes to bewilderment and fear, as the baby is already the size of a normal man at two years old. He continues to grow, and is brought by cargo ship to Europe, where a consortium is formed to help and protect the child, who is forced to keep moving from place to place due to unfortunate accidents typical of childhood, like tripping and falling on a house and destroying it.

By the time of the story, El Muchacho is eight years old and seven stories high, and being kept hidden in the large building next to the author’s hotel. The author convinces his keepers they should meet, and when they do, also convinces them he can help train the boy to emerge safely and carefully from his prison for a walk in the neighborhood. What happens then, and how the public reacts, is the rest of this unusual tale.

Wonderful illustrations, charming characters, recommended.

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