| Title | : | The Little Guys |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1626724423 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781626724426 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 40 |
| Publication | : | First published April 2, 2019 |
Yes, we are small. But there are a lot of us.
Together we are strong, and we can get all we need.
The Little Guys might be small, but they aim to be mighty.
As they head off to find breakfast, they can conquer anything through teamwork―cross deep waters, dig through obstacles, and climb the tallest trees. Nothing can stop them!
But as they begin to amass more than they need, the creatures in the forest ponder―what happens when no one can stop the Little Guys?
The Little Guys Reviews
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You are looking at the strongest guys in the whole forest.
Down here.
On this island.
So begins THE LITTLE GUYS, a kind of surprising tale from Vera Brosgol. At first, I thought it was empowering.
We are the Little Guys.
Yes, we are small. But there are a lot of us.
Together we are strong, and we can get all we need.
We can cross deep water where you can't see the bottom.
Off to find breakfast for the Little Guys.
We never get lost in the big, dark forest.
Nothing to fear for the Little Guys.
Things were going along swimmingly. "How great," I thought to myself. "These little guys are little, but they know they have power in numbers. They can get food, all stick together, help each other."
Then the book slowly starts taking some dark turns, as we see the Little Guys stealing food from other forest animals and even beating some forest animals up!
"None for you!
All for us!
Hand it over to the Little Guys!
But when they try to steal the last piece of food from a little bird, all their booty topples over, and falls into the river, along with the Little Guys.
The very animals they bulled and stole from fish them out of the river.
Then they learn to share and help others. I guess.
TL; DR It's good to realize that even though you and your friends consider yourselves the underdogs, you still have to watch yourself, because you can become a bully or a thief and feel 'justified' about what you are doing because you are 'small' or 'oppressed.' But if you are hurting other people, that is bad and not justified.
Sort of a strange kids' book. -
The little guys are kind of pushy and a little mean. They basically steal all the food in the forest from the animals and hoard it for themselves until they learn a little lesson. They are very tiny, but stick together which makes them very mighty. They become bully’s.
I don’t know if I like the story or not. It’s great to see what one can accomplish as a group, but they are mean in that group as well. This is a beginning story and I’m not sure it gets the point across at the end enough to show this behavior isn’t the best.
The nephew did laugh at this book some. He thought these guys with acorn hats were funny looking. He gave this story 4 stars. The niece thought this story was stupid. She did laugh at some of the antics of these little bottlecap things, but she gave this 1 star. -
These little guys are greedy bullies, and the story never addresses this fact. Even my 6-year old knew something was very wrong with this whole thing.
Beautiful illustrations, as always, from Vera Brosgol. -
Author/artist Vera Brosgol, who was awarded a Caldecott Honor for her picture-book,
Leave Me Alone!, returns to the form in this new title. The eponymous Little Guys in this cautionary tale relate how they meet the challenges of life in the forest, working together to do big things, from lifting massive objects out of their way to finding enough food to feed themselves. But when they become greedy, and want everything they see, they find themselves taking a fall. With the help of the other forest animals, animals they've been less than considerate of, they climb up again, and this time use their teamwork to help everyone...
The Little Guys is a cute book, pairing a simple text - no more than a sentence per page - with appealing and expressive artwork, and communicating a worthy message about greed and generosity. I don't know that it impressed me as much as
Leave Me Alone!, which I found quite humorous, in a surreal way. Somehow this one felt a little too on the nose for me, when it came to communicating its central message. I was distracted, moreover, by the fact that I kept wondering what the "little guys" were - mushrooms? acorns? little gnome people? - while reading, and it detracted from my enjoyment of the story. Tastes vary, of course, and some might find that ambiguity entertaining. Recommended to Vera Brosgol fans, and to anyone looking for new picture-books about teamwork, community, and being generous. -
Fantastic book that looks at the dark side of team work - for children - but much managerial wisdom here for corporations.
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Sorry, but I don't get it. The Little Guys are a bunch of greedy parasites who destroy the homes of the rest of the woodland creatures in their attempt to amass everything. When they go too far, the rest of the creatures help them. It makes no sense. It would be like someone treating their termites as pets and feeding them their prized rocking chair. When a bunch of tiny, unstoppable creatures threatens your own existence, you don't stop to help them; you call a freaking exterminator.
I don't even know what these Little Guys are supposed to be, anyway. The have the strength and cooperation of ants, but they look like acorns. It's just weird.
The story is so weak that I almost wonder if Brosgol was just doodling, came up with a cute acorn character, and then decided to write a whole book around the sketch. Unfortunately, there's not much here. What could've been a good story about greed and redemption ended up being a glorification of a nuisance. Just because something is small doesn't mean it's desirable. Ask anyone who's been the victim of a virus. -
The sweetest book, with a twist in the theme. Yes, cooperation can get you anything, and you are stronger together...but taking and winning isn’t everything. Love the nuanced message.
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Brosgol's newest picture book is about a horde of tiny little sentient acorns who take everything they can in the forest, even if it means beating up bears to do it. The greedy little bastards demonstrate the dangers of mob mentality. When they try to take too much, they lose it all and realize the error of their ways. The animals they stole from end up helping them.
The Little Guys' mindset makes a 180 so fast I didn't understand why or how they changed their minuscule minds, making the happy and harmonious conclusion feel unearned. However the artwork is charming, especially the first page that shows us the microscope scale of these little guys. -
Um. Not sure what I just read. Not what I expected... AT. ALL. Loved the illustrations but it appeared that these acorns were bullies and thieves. Two stars because of the artwork.
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Now that was interesting! I wasn't expecting it to go the direction it did. It starts off with a "we're little, but together we are strong" motif, which is fairly standard. But then it gets suddenly intense with the little guys using their unified strength to harass the animals of the forest and take most of resources. This is NOT something you typically see in picture books. Of course, their greed leads to their downfall and they learn a valuable lesson about not abusing their power. I feel like this is an analogy for something, political or sociological, but I can't figure it out. Brosgol was born in Russia and moved to the US, both large countries that have a tendency to take more than their fair share. So, I suppose there is strength in *those* numbers, but then what to the other animals of the forest represent? Other countries? Who knows, I maybe reading too much into it. Maybe there's an interview somewhere that will shed some light... Anyway, it's different and refreshing. It's not often that a picture book will make me stop and think like this.
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Odd little over-achieving forest creatures are basically bullies. Until their food pile and them end up everywhere and need rescuing. Yeah, whatever. Color me disappointed, I expected better. Writing was repetitive, art was okay.
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Simple words, where the pictures tell a lot of the story with some fairly complex ideas, make this appropriate for early readers. Ideas of fairness, and helping others, and greed should gnerate lots of discussion opportunities for preschoolers and their adult readers.
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Great illustrations.
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I love this book for the mentor text possibilities. Add this to your collection for talking about good and bad character traits, perspective of characters, and talking about the message of a story.
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100 hearts for this entertaining parable! And for Vera’s gorgeous saturated watercolors and adorable creatures.
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Looking for a new book about sharing? This story about what happens to the by the talented Vers Brosgol will fit the bill.
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Preschool children will more than likely find this funny, but I personally found it rather underwhelming. The Little Guys are selfish takers until the end. I enjoyed the illustrations. -
Sooo......This is one of those wtf moments where I read something and I literally could not even find one thing to like about this other than the illustrations. These little brats go around stealing animals food and messing things up so they can get to said food. They act like the seagulls in finding nemo except less cute or friendly.
The whole book they just steal and talk about how great they are. They talk about being able to beat up bigger animals. And they keep chanting "We are the little guys we are strong." Gosh I felt like I was being brainwashed or something.
I just did not understand the lesson at the end. They steal everything and their mountain of food falls over then they give it back. But how is having a mountain of food falling over teach them what they are doing is wrong? It just doesn't make any sense. I'm done. NEXT!
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The Little Guys are very small but when they work together they can do almost anything! Using leaves to float, they cross deep water. In the big forest, they hold hands to stay together and keep from being afraid. They find berries and form a stack to reach them. But as they continue their search for more and more food, they start using their combined strength in a way that upsets the rest of the forest. Chipmunks go flying, owls get forced out of their nests, and they even beat up a bear! Soon they have all of the food in the forest! But have they gone too far?
Brosgol follows her incredible Leave Me Alone! with this clever look at the impact of collective action and what happens when even the smallest of us upset the balance of nature and society. The text is simple and straightforward, told in the voice of the Little Guys as they head out scavenging. They are full of confidence as they make the trek to find food and it’s a stirring picture of the power of community until it goes awry in such a spectacular way.
Brosgol’s Little Guys are ever so adorable with their acorn caps and stick-thin limbs. Their orange bulbous noses also add to their appeal. With almost no facial expressions, it is impressive how she gives them emotions with body language. The dwarfing of their size in the forest and beside the other animals is also effectively portrayed.
A delight of a picture book that is an unusual look at sharing with your community. Appropriate for ages 3-5. -
I'm not sure how I feel about this picture book. I get the idea of it, I think, that there is strength in numbers but also danger in group think and too much power. But I didn't quite get what would change in these little guys to make them reach out to the other forest creatures and behave generously at the end. Maybe children will relate to the book with its illustrations, created with dip pen, acrylic ink, and watercolor with some Adobe Photoshop assistance, better than I did. The little guys seem to be acorn-like critters, but they are able to move around. Once they move from their island, they seem to take over the environment, displacing many animals and greedily foraging for food. But their greed leads to a mishap, and they change their ways. This one would be interesting to discuss with youngsters, though, for their take on it. I felt sorry for that red bird with her blueberry in her beak.
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I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This picture book was so adorable! It’s illustrations are simple but cute, I’m not 100% sure what “The Little Guys” represented, to me they looked like tiny mushrooms with big noses which I feel was the purpose but unsure. I still loved how they were drawn though.
Everything else was drawn spot on with a little cartoonish vibe.
The store was cute but also had something to teach. If anyone is looking for a new cute picture book I would definitely recommend this when it comes out in April.
It is a picture book geared towards younger kids but honestly I’m an adult and absolutely loved it! So cute, so well drawn and especially for an ARC. For those unaware usually ARCs are Black and White or not the final picture or both but this seemed to be the final picture and in color.
I’m very excited for this book to come out! -
Perhaps I'm biased for having read Vera Brosgol's "Be Prepared" graphic novel, but for an illustrated kids book it's freakin' adorable. The Little Guys have big ambitions--too much in fact. I won't ruin the ending, sufficed to say there's a great message to kids about consuming, sharing and community.
The art is evocative of that from the Hilda animated series, full of round characters and backgrounds, rarely if ever a sharp end point. The colors are lush and watercolored (digital? hand? actually hard to tell this time) compared to the limited (but brilliantly executed) color palette of Be Prepared, and conveys animation well simply by lining up a dozen plus of the little acorn-topped fellows in a row for a bucket brigade of berry-picking or digging underground.
An adorable entry in her library, and a delight for the eyes (and funny bone). -
I'm not 100% sure the message in this is exactly what we should take from it? It is a nicely illustrated work. "The Little Guys" show how working together to accomplish much with being so little is important. However, what comes across slightly is that "The Little Guys" seem to be greedy and want too much, until they suffer a fall. They get back up again...however, the message here seems a little too much about the world as it is and not as much as what we would like our youngest to become. Maybe I'm reading too much into it...but this one doesn't sit well with me.
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People are going to LOVE this book. It is about being greedy and learning how to be happy with what you have, but also how to be kind and share. The story has been done before, there are no surprises. However, the art was fun to look at and follow the story with.
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Ouch, I normally love Vera Brosgol's books but this was a dud for me. I was confused as to who "the little guys" were supposed to be, and the theme (greed backfires, it's better to share) has been done hundred times over to better effect. Cute pictures on nice, matte paper, though..
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Kids enjoyed this story, about a group of little guys who work together to get everything... and become a bit too greedy. The artwork is fun - the little guys almost look like acorns.
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I found the allegory here puzzling, possibly because the common cultural assumption is that the "little guy" is usually the good guy. The illustrations are charming and humorous, though.
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Was so excited for her new book. The illustrations are delightful. Extremely disappointed at the message that beating up perceived threats is a mighty thing to do. I’m not sure what their problem was with the bear at the river minding its own business catching fish. It could have been so much better if they found a way to work together to get the fish from the bear in more kind way. As I read the book out loud & got to the double spread page where it needs to be rotated 90° one of the kids asked- why do we have to that to the book? Glad this was a library borrow.
