NOT LITTLE in SLJ

 MYERS, Maya. Not Little. illus. by Hyewon Yum. 40p. Holiday House/Neal Porter. Jul. 2021. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9780823446193.

K-Gr 2–Dot, a girl with light brown skin and a big bun on her head, is well aware that her stature is on the small side. In fact, she’s the tiniest one in her interracial family, as well as in her class. She feels insulted when she goes places and, “People look at me and ask me if I’m in preschool. Then I tell them that the square root of sixty-four is eight, or that Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia, or that my favorite Mars rover is Curiosity. I’m not little.” At school, filled with a diverse student body, a new boy has arrived. Dot thinks he may possibly be smaller than she is, but she hasn’t had the opportunity to find out for sure. The new boy, who is possibly of Asian descent, has bigger problems, though---a bully! Dot is not having it and sets out to prove her size once and for all. The charming illustrations are done in colored pencil on a white background; Yum’s energetic art reflects the protagonist it portrays. “Though she be but little, she be fierce,” indeed. VERDICT A recommended purchase for libraries where Patty Lovell’s Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon is popular.–Tracy Cronce, Stevens Point Pub. Sch. District, WI