Dot in Larryland: The Big Little Book of an Odd-Sized Friendship

by Patricia Marx, Roz Chast (Illustrator)

He may be huge and she may be tiny, but Dot and Larry are destined to become best friends.

Dot, a teeny tiny little gal who's no bigger than a dust mite, is very lonely and would love to find a friend. Larry, a guy who's so big his head is always in the clouds, doesn't think anyone understands him. But a chance meeting at a diner (just after Larry's fifteenth burger) leads Dot right to the most humongous man in the world, and they discover that their differences actually make them pretty similar. Featuring Roz Chast's distinctive and hilarious illustrations, Dot in Larryland will have readers looking very high (and very low) for their next best friend.

Genres: Picture Books, Humor

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Patricia Marx is an American humorist and writer.
Born in Abingdon, Pennsylvania, she earned her B.A. from Harvard University in 1975. Her writing has appeared in the The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, and The Atlantic Monthly. Marx is a former writer for Saturday Night Live and Rugrats, and one of the first two women elected to the Harvard Lampoon.[1][2] She is the author of the 2007 novel, Him Her Him Again The End of Him, as well as several humor books and children's books (Meet My Staff, Now Everybody Really Hates Me, Now I Will Never Leave the Dinner Table).[3]

Reviews

[Dawn Draper · Rating 2 out of 5]

The text in this book did not have any fluency. There were "text boxes" all over the page and were not necessarily connected well. The main text was also overwhelmed by the illustration on the page. The illustrations were certainly eye catching but distracting. Certainly not for read alouds or very young readers.

[Jessica Trufley · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a cute story but hard to follow. There were about 2-3 stories going on at once and they were on all part of the page. It's about finding friends in odd sizes and how even if it's an unlikely friendship it can still be one. It rhymed throughout the book, so maybe it would be good to use for a poetry or rhyming lesson.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

HILARIOUS AND GREAT!

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book about being different and taht being ok. Dot is so small and lonely. The illustrations are nothing to die for but the story is a nice one. Grades K+

[Tina B · Rating 1 out of 5]

size, friendship, unusual friendships

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked that she called him a nice looking dude.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Befriend people of all sizes!

[Ellie Chenoweth]

Good example of becoming friends with someone different than you

[Melki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this one up because of Roz Chast's illustrations. And, they're terrific, as usual, BUT . . . there's no there there. We meet teeny-tiny Dot, who's practically microscopic. Then we meet gigantic Larry, who's bigger than a house. They finally meet just a few pages from the end of the book, and become friends . . . oh, because they're both lonely, I guess. And, that's all folks. We're left on our own to imagine just what hijinks this huge guy and speck o' dust gal might get up to together. If it weren't for Chast's presence, this would have been an easy one-star read.

[Maxwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

My 8 liked this better than my 6. Max was struggling to find the plot. Kind of a random book. My 8 likes books with lots of random asides and tiny text arrows, I felt like that detracted from the story.

[Juliana Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange book on friendship. Opposites Larry (the giant) and Dot (smaller than minuscule) find each other and become friends.