Every Little Letter
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
For fans of The Word Collector and Be Kind comes a story of words, walls, and widening your world, by New York Times bestselling author Deborah Underwood
Small h has always lived with the other H's in a city surrounded by walls that keep them safe. At least, that's what the big H's say. But one day, a hole in the wall reveals someone new on the other side. When little h and little i meet, they make a small word with big meaning: "hi!" The other H's find out, though. They fill the hole. But it won't be enough to keep these little letters apart--or twenty-four of their newest friends. Every Little Letter shows how even the smallest among us can make a big impact, and how a single act of friendship can inspire whole communities to come together. How do you tear down walls? With words, at first. Then brick by brick.
"Rich for exploration . . . Adorable." --SLJ (starred review)
"This message of friendship . . . bears repeating, especially for the youngest readers." --Kirkus
"Smartly executed . . . Underlines how diversity leads to strength." --Publishers Weekly
"This [book] goes beyond to incorporate the alphabet and word-learning, as well as the importance of listening to young people." --Shelf Awareness
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This smartly executed fable about embracing difference imagines 26 villages one representing each letter of the Latin alphabet. The villages are divided by walls, and the letters who live within them prefer it that way: "They knew other letters lurked outside. Different letters." Underwood (Outside In) begins with a village of Hs; newcomer Ruiz draws a bustling town square full of H-themed vignettes: a hamburger store, a hat store, and myriad speech balloons featuring the same boring greeting: "H." Secretly, a young lower-case h longs for more and, encountering a small i through a hole in the wall, creates a word: "hi!" Though the adults find out and try to end the socialization, the open-hearted young letters, through paper airplane-sent missives, learn the riches of word-making and set about dismantling walls. Ruiz creates sweet, appealing letters against backgrounds of brightly colored wash. Using letters as characters creates opportunities for pun-making ("the y's finally got some answers"); more importantly, though, it offers a neutral, easy setting to underline how diversity leads to strength. Ages 4 8.
