The Littles Take a Trip (The Littles #3) [Paperback]

John Peterson (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

The Littles is a timeless favorite that's been enjoyed for decades. Ready to grab the attention of a new generation, fresh cover art brings an updated look to this classic series.

Meet the Littles, a family like any other but with a few tiny differences! They live in the walls of the Bigg family house where they get everything they need. In return they make sure the Bigg house is always in good repair.

Lucy and Tom Little are bored. And when Lucy starts getting into trouble, the Littles realize they have to do something to keep the kids entertained. A gathering of tiny families is planned and the Littles set out for the meeting right away. But they will have to travel far and danger awaits them on their trip. The Littles are in for one big adventure!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

JOHN PETERSON wrote many books for young readers. The Littles has been a perennial favourite among elementary-school children, and the stories have been the inspiration for a morning cartoon show as well as two animated feature films.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (May 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590462229
• ISBN-13: 978-0590462228
• Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 5.5 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Lawrence Peterson was born and raised in Bradford, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Bradford High School in 1941, he began studying illustration at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. In 1943, he left the Pratt Institute and volunteered for the paratroopers. He fought for three years with the 11th Airborne Division and took part in combat on Leyte and Luzon in the Philippine Islands during World War II.

After the conclusion of the war, Peterson returned to his studies and graduated from the Pratt Institute in 1948. He began working as a freelance illustrator in New York City, where he contributed to advertising campaigns, magazines, and textbooks. But he had hopes of illustrating children's books.

In 1964, he wrote a children's book with his wife, Holly Peterson, solely so that he could illustrate it. That book, originally entitled Tony's Treasure Hunt and eventually renamed Terry's Treasure Hunt, has sold over 1,000,000 copies in paperback. In writing Terry's Treasure Hunt, Peterson discovered that he enjoyed writing more than illustrating; he then went on to write and illustrate The Secret Hide-Out and Enemies of the Secret Hide-Out, which sold 2,700,000 copies combined in hardcover and paperback editions. Although his first three books achieved notoriety, his greatest success has come from being the author of the Littles Books Series. Written at the nine to 12 year old reading level and recommended as pre-chapter books, the 14 book series about the life of a tiny family that lives in the walls of the Biggs family's house has 10,500,000 copies in print. Special editions of the Littles Books have been published in Great Britain, Israel, and Iceland. Littles Books were also the basis of a Saturday morning cartoon, The Littles, as well as two full-length animated films, Here Come the Littles, and Liberty and the Littles. Author Teddy Slater enjoyed the series so much that he recently began working with John Peterson to produce and co-author The Littles First Readers Series: a series based on the Littles Books but geared toward children at the four to eight year old reading level.

Peterson has written over 50 children's books, 26 of which have been published. In addition to writing and illustrating books, Peterson has traveled to 34 states, including revisiting his homestate of Pennsylvania, to speak and present a slide show, How I Write Books and How They are Published, to children, teachers, and librarians on behalf of his publisher, Scholastic Inc. Also, he has been a member of the Author's Guild for over 30 years.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Big Adventure Away from the Biggs for the Littles, January 31, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Littles Take a Trip (The Littles #3) (Paperback)

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. The Littles Take a Trip was one of her picks.

If you do not yet know the Littles, you should. They are tiny people (six inches or less tall) who live undetected in the Bigg's house. They are just like full-size people, except that they have tails! Being a Little has one big drawback. You cannot easily go visit others. This makes it tough for the children, who do not have other children to play with. Instead, they spend way too much time watching the Biggs (like human children watch television).

Their source of information about the other families is Cousin Dinky, who is quite an adventurer. He travels from house to house using his glider to bring the mail from one family to another and to share stories of his adventures and of the other small families. The Little parents are fearful of ever leaving their house because of danger from animals, and think that Cousin Dinky is quite rash.

In this story, the Littles decide (at the urging of the children and with the encouragement of Cousin Dinky) to visit the other families who live nearby. This has never happened before. With Cousin Dinky's help, several families will converge at the home of the Smalls. Fortunately, Tom (the ten year old) has tamed the Henry Bigg's cat who will let them ride to the Smalls' house. All is going smoothly until a baseball hits the cat, and she darts into the dangerous woods. There the Littles learn a lot about life, danger, and their own capabilities.

This book directly addresses the fearfulness and dependency that many children feel because they are small and vulnerable. The book's message is that you can do anything you set your mind to. It's not safe to do so because you can take all risk out, but rather because you can handle the risks as they arise because you are an active, thinking person. And other people will help you!

I liked the wonderful role reversals in the story. At first, a skunk is viewed as a threat. But a skunk can be a great resource if he is your friend because he can run off other marauders. Also, the Littles learn that their insulated life style is costing them a lot of the freedom, excitement, and companionship that life has to offer. Safety has a cost that can be too great, as a result.

After you and your child finish enjoying this story, I suggest that you each share with the other where you are holding back from trying things because of safety concerns. Then you should discuss how any valid concerns could be handled so the risk is appropriate. In this way, you can arm each other with good thinking skills to address dangers in the most appropriate way . . . rather than let dangers inhibit you from acting. By being open and helpful to each other, you will also improve the quality of your relationship at the same time.

Live big, appropriately . . . regardless of your size and age!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another solid entry in the series, February 18, 2005

By 

Matt Hetling "Matt" (Bethel, ME USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Littles Take a Trip (The Littles #3) (Paperback)

In this story about everyone's favorite tiny family, the Littles are moved to take a trip to meet other families like themselves. Cousin Dinky is the only small person who moves from family to family freely, and he gets the ball rolling when he suggests a meeting of small families. Lucy and Tom want so desperately to meet other children their own size that a trip is arranged, despite the dangers that the outside world presents.

This book capitalizes on the elements that make the series a success, by presenting realistic obstacles posed by a giant world. The differences between the Littles and the Specks is fascinating, and the interaction between the small people and potentially fierce animals is exciting as well.

Buy this series for your child, and let him or her go from beginning to end for some good, clean entertainment that will keep them reading until the last page has been turned.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great book!, August 28, 2002

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Littles Take a Trip (The Littles #3) (Paperback)

Living on this Earth, right under our very noses, is a race of tiny people. They are not dwarfs or elves, but simply tiny people, six inches tall at the most and possessing beautiful, furry tails. And in the home of the Biggs, lives a family of these tiny people, called the Littles.

In this book, the Littles' children grow tired of watching young Henry Bigg play with his friends, and yearn to have friends of their own. When Cousin Dinky, the only tiny person who travels, suggests that the tiny families of the area can have a get-together, the children seize on the idea, and with the help of Granny Little make it happen. But going out into the big world brings more adventures than the Littles every could have expected!

What a great book! I am a fan of Mary Norton's Borrowers books, and was saddened by the knowledge that there would never be any more. When I discovered Mr. Peterson's Littles books I was overjoyed, hoping that these would be just as good. Well, I wasn't disappointed!

The story in this book is charming, and quite entertaining. My children and I were thrilled with the story, and look forward to reading more of the adventures of the Littles. We highly recommend this book to you.