The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade

June 2, 2014
No one notices tiny Sally McCabe, but she is “paying super extra special attention” to everything around her—and what she sees is an epidemic of bullying, brusqueness, and cruelty in her school (“She saw Kevin McKuen get pushed off the slide—/ and the oncoming tears that he wanted to hide”). So Sally takes a stand, Norma Rae–style, in the lunchroom: “I’m tired of seeing this terrible stuff,” she proclaims, sticking her finger emphatically in the air. “Stop hurting each other! This is enough!” Children’s musician Roberts can pour it on a little thick (“She’d seen how a whisper could make someone cower/ like a bulldozer crushing through fields of wildflowers”), but his premise should strike a chord with an age group that has a strong sense of injustice, and Sally’s big moment is genuinely inspiring. (The story is adapted from Roberts’s song “Billy the Bully.”) He’s also well served by Robinson’s (Gaston) naïf, colored pencil drawings, which have a poignant expressiveness and the emotional directness of real schoolroom art. Ages 3–5. Author’s agency: Davey Literary & Media. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

November 15, 2014
Preschool-K This effective rhyming book by kiddierock star Roberts takes on the subjects of bullying, teasing, and excluding others. The action centers upon a school, where plenty of kids commit big and little cruelties, like shoving someone off the slide or laughing at an obese child. But one girl sees it all: tiny little Sally McCabe. Though ignored by all, Sally has the gift of paying super extra special attention, from the 27 keys on the janitor's ring to more serious matters like one kid being tripped by another. Finally, Sally steps out of the lunchroom line and makes a scene: She said, I'm tired of seeing this terrible stuff. / Stop hurting each other! This is enough! A kindness revolution of sorts follows, allowing Roberts to make the point that one small voice can bring big results. Robinson's childlike colored-pencil art creates round-headed characters that look perfectly innocentwhich is why their misbehavior feels all the more startling. This is a serious topic given serious treatment, and it should be ideal for initiating discussions.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)