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The World Is So Big and I Am So Small

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From morning to bedtime, this delightful poem follows a day in the life of a child. The world of adults seems very big but his imagination brings the everyday objects around him playfully to life. Joe Servello's illustrations perfectly depict the wonder that children bring to the most ordinary objects. Full color.

24 pages, Hardcover

First published September 9, 1986

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About the author

Michael Talbot

55 books307 followers
Michael Talbot was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1953. As a young man, he moved to New York City, where he pursued a career as a freelance writer, publishing articles in Omni, The Village Voice, and others, often exploring the confluence between science and the spiritual.

Talbot published his first novel, The Delicate Dependency: A Novel of the Vampire Life as an Avon paperback original in 1982; though never reprinted, it is regarded a classic of the genre, frequently appearing on lists of the best vampire novels ever written, and secondhand copies have long been expensive and hard to find. His other horror titles, both cult classics, are The Bog (1986) and Night Things (1988).

But despite the popularity of his fiction among horror fans, it was for his nonfiction that Talbot was best known, much of it focusing on new age concepts, mysticism, and the paranormal. Arguably his most famous and most significant is The Holographic Universe (1991), which examines the increasingly accepted theory that the entire universe is a hologram; the book remains in print and highly discussed today.

Michael Talbot died of leukemia in 1992 at age 38.

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5 stars
13 (56%)
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6 (26%)
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4 (17%)
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
20 reviews
February 5, 2017
The World is so Big and I am so Small, by William Kotzwinkle. Illustrated by Joe Servello

The life of a child is one filled with imagination and curiosity. This book follows a day in the life of a young rabbit as he goes through his daily routine of rambunctious behavior. From morning to bed time, this book will illustrate wonderfully the life of a child.

Illustrated with watercolor and pencil, this colorful and beautiful book does a wonderful job at putting into words what the child thinks that they are doing, while in reality it may not be so. Using contradicting illustration to illustrate this at points was something I quite liked. At one part during the book, the child claims he's being helpful and doing the laundry, when in the illustration he's dumping the detergent all on the ground. Other parts of the book I enjoyed were the personification of the different objects the child was interacting with. It gives children the chance to connect what is happening in the illustration to abstract dialogue. The opening scenes do a great job depicting this, as it starts with the child sleeping in bed, and the dialogue on page is coming from a mobile with a fish and bird on it hanging above him. Overall, the book is an enjoyable one that both parents and children will be able to enjoy.
Profile Image for Liane.
122 reviews5 followers
October 22, 2008
Genre: Picture book

Reading Level: Early

Topics & Themes: The activities of a young rabbit's day from waking up to bedtime.

Curricular Use: Read aloud or shared reading.

Literary Elements: Rhymed text. Personification: main character is a rabbit and the rabbit's world of inanimate objects coming to life and talking.

Text & Pictures: Interaction of text and pictures. Colorful and adorable, the pictures support the text and reinforce the young rabbit's activities.

Additional Notes: Jenna's nomination for “Won't You Be My Neighbor” Award. Fun illustrations of rabbit getting the sleep washed out of his head and wearing kitchen pots for a crown. Rated the book based on both pictures and content, just illustrations would give the book a 5.
Profile Image for Elizabeth Heuston.
30 reviews2 followers
April 27, 2009
By: William Kotzwinkle

Pictures: Joe Servello

Genre: Fictional Picture book

Audience: prek through 2nd


Topic/Theme: childhood, imagination,


Classroom Uses: independent reading, read aloud, partner reading

Reading Level: early

Literary Device; Rhyme

Summary: This story is about a rabbit and what he does throughout his day froText and image: The text in this book is done in a rhyme scheme which gets readers to follow the story in a sort of sing song manner. The illustrations really enhance the text add meaning to it. There really isn't a lot of description in the text and a reader needs to look at the illustrations to get the full image of this story.
m waking up to falling asleep.

Profile Image for Alecia.
34 reviews2 followers
April 16, 2009
Author: William Kotzwinkle

Illustrator: Joe Servello

Genre: fiction picture book

Publication Info: Crown Publishers Inc. (1986)

Reading Level: Ages 4-8, early

Topic/Theme: childhood, imagination,

Issues Addressed: childhood

Classroom Uses: independent reading, read aloud, partner reading

Summary: This story is about a rabbit and what he does throughout his day from waking up to falling asleep.

Text and image: The text in this book is done in a rhyme scheme which gets readers to follow the story in a sort of sing song manner. The illustrations really enhance the text add meaning to it. There really isn't a lot of description in the text and a reader needs to look at the illustrations to get the full image of this story.

Literary Devices: rhyme
Profile Image for Megan.
77 reviews4 followers
October 16, 2008
Genre: Picture Book
Audience: K-3rd
Curricular Uses: Read aloud, independent reading, shared reading
Reading Level: Early Readers
Literary Elements: Personification, Rhyme, Dialogue
Illustrations: Colorful illustrations that support the text. Done by local artist, Joe Servello.
Additional Comments: This is a great book to use to introduce personification. It is all about inanimate objects coming to life and talking. Also would be a lot of fun because of the rhyming. Children in the primary grades would love this book and have an easy time rereading it after hearing it once.

30 reviews2 followers
April 27, 2009
Author: William Kotzwinkle

Illustrator: Joe Servello

Genre: Fiction Picture Book

Year Published: 1996

Reading Level: Preschool-2nd

Topic and Themes: Imagination, Childhood

Curricular Use: Read Aloud, Shared Reading

Social: Childhood

Literary Elements: Rhyme

Text and Pictures: The pictures are a must see, because they are drawn by a local artist. The pictures are very detailed and beautiful.

Summary: This story book is about a rabbit that goes through every step of the day, wanting to be noticed.
Profile Image for Melody Kephart.
32 reviews2 followers
March 18, 2009
Illustrator: Joe Servello
Publisher: Marlowe & Company
Date of Publication: 1996

Genre: Picture book, Rhyme and Poetry, Animal Character
Reading Level: ages 4-8
Theme: size, imagination

Curricula Use: teach children to use their imagination
teach children about size
Social Issues: family culture

Text & Pictures: Illustrations match the text. It is a picture book so the illustrations fit the text.
Summary: the little rabbit goes through a typical day in his life. He wants the world to notice him and he embraces life to the fullest that he can.
Profile Image for Jenna Spinazzola.
30 reviews
October 16, 2008
genre: picture book
audience: k-3rd
curricular uses: read aloud, independent reading, shared reading
reading level: early readers
literary elements: personification, rhyme, dialogue
illustrations: colorful, support the text. done by local artist Joe Servello
thoughts: this is a great book to use to introduce personification. it is all about inanimate objects coming to life and talking. also would be a lot of fun because of each page rhyming with the other.
Profile Image for Carly Brown.
55 reviews2 followers
December 1, 2008
For Liane's Award

Level: Early

Genre: Picture Book

Curricular Use: Guided Reading

Topic: Being a small person in a big world, seeing the world through the eyes of a child

Social: the way a child views the big world, being independent, helping out, being a small person in a big world

Literary Elements: rhyming, personification

Strong connection between the pictures and the text (the pictures really add to the fantastical element of the story)





30 reviews2 followers
April 30, 2009
Reading level- k-2

Genre- Fiction Picture Book

Topic-Imagination

Social-Childhood

Curricula Use-independent reading or read aloud

Literary Elements-rhyme

Text and pictures- Images offer a lot to the book. Not much text description so the pictures really come in handy.

Summary-
40 reviews
March 7, 2013
This book teaches children about math. This book teaches children about the number one million. It also has colorful pictures that they can relate to.



Learning extension: The children can practice writing the number one million. Can use arts and crafts for this activity.
Profile Image for Carolyn Hembree.
Author 6 books70 followers
May 17, 2014
Among my top five faves in the kid's library. So old school. Has a forties vibe in the illustrations --sweet and a little haunted. Visual and written text reflect a child's perspective --
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews