Giant Island

From Kirkus Reviews
“Childhood magic shared with a new generation.

The wonder of childhood comes alive…literally.

When Ava and Mason and their dog, Cooper, visit Giant Island with their Grandpa, they can’t figure out how it got its name; it’s a tiny island where no giant could possibly live. But Grandpa says it’s always been called that, even back when he came there to fish with his own grandpa. As he fishes from the shore, the two children and their dog explore, finding a cave teeming with ocean life, stones “shiny as mirrors,” and a great spot for swimming. As the kids round the island, observant readers will start to see what they haven’t noticed yet: The whole island is a giant: the trees, hair; the cave, an ear; and the stones, eyes. Yolen and Keith could have stopped there—lots of islands are named after what they appear to be. But no, the magic of Giant Island is that this giant is alive and moving, their arms and fingers pointing, grasping, their facial expressions changing. And while Grandpa may pretend not to know what’s going on, he and the giant share parting words and a wave: “Always good to see you, old friend.” Keith’s gouache and colored pencil illustrations wonderfully suit the seaweed tufts and tightly packed rocks of the island and the ocean life that surrounds it. Grandpa and Mason have light skin; Ava’s is slightly darker. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Childhood magic shared with a new generation. (Picture book. 4-8)

About the Creators

Jane Yolen is a writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children’s books. She is the author or editor of over 400 books, including Owl Moon, winner of the Caldecott award, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight and the rest of the beloved How Do Dinosaurs series, and The Devil’s Arithmetic, a middle grade Holocaust novel. She lives in Western Massachusetts. There are two islands in Jane’s background: Manhattan Island where she spent her early years, and the Isle of Skye in Scotland where she has spent lots of time for the past 30 summers. Either of them could have housed a giant. 
You can find out more about Jane and her works on her website. 

Doug Keith has over thirty years’ experience as an illustrator, designer, and fine artist. His resume includes forty plus illustrated books, a Benjamin Franklin Award for interior design, a television Emmy award for graphic design, and commissioned works at Windermere Real Estate and Puget Sound Energy. Doug lives in Seattle, Washington, surrounded by the mountains and water which inspired Giant Island.

ISBN: HC 9781947277182 ebook 9781947277199 
Print Length: 32 Full Color Pages
Publication Date: August 2022
Age Group: 4-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021951768

Leveling Information

Fountas and Pinnell – Text Level P

Lexile Measurements provided by Metametrics.

Lexile Display: AD490L
Word Count: 346
MSL: 6.528
MLF: 3.424
Decoding Display: Very High
Semantic Display: High
Syntactic Display: Medium
Structure Display: High