From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2–Justine doesn't ever seem to get any taller. She is frustrated by her size, crying that the whole world doesn't fit! In a scene reminiscent of the movie
Big, Teenie approaches mysterious Madame Flora's booth at a carnival with one wish: to grow. When the woman gives her a box, she is disappointed to discover that it only holds a plant. But the plant begins to grow uncontrollably and begins to display a fondness for wrapping the youngster in a tangle of vines, lifting her up to the sky, where she can see things a little bit differently. Children will identify with the small protagonist's plight and will appreciate her elevated status as she uses the large vines to help all of the neighbors. This story of empowerment takes Teenie from being too small to be noticed to being an important part of her community. The artwork is classic Meddaugh–bright color washed into sharp outlines of people and things. The story begins with illustrations in tight boxes centered cleanly on the page. As Teenie's plant begins to grow, it overwhelms the boxes, eventually expanding onto spreads. A tender story of growth in more ways than one.
–Susan E. Murray, Glendale Public Library, AZ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
PreS-Gr. 2. Justine is so little that everyone calls her Teenie: "Clothes don't fit. My house doesn't fit. The whole world doesn't fit!" And as Meddaugh's droll pictures reveal, Teenie isn't kidding: she can barely climb onto a chair, and she is only as tall as her classmates' thighs. Then a carnival fortune-teller sends Teenie home with a plant that quickly skyrockets into a towering vine. Its tendrils grab everything in sight--even Teenie, who lands at the plant's top. The mile-high perspective delights rather than terrifies Teenie, and she spends the summer in the leaves, her meals ballooned up by her doting parents. When fall comes, the plant wilts, and Teenie is brought back to Earth, but a final spread reveals her plan to relive the fun. What the story lacks in cohesiveness, it makes up for in the whimsical illustrations and the appealing magic. Most of all, kids will feel Teenie's surge of empowerment when she looks down from her green perch and sees, for the first time, that the world is smaller than she.
Gillian EngbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
