A Bigger Book (Hannah Sommerville, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)

In A Bigger Book, Hannah Sommerville’s first solo picture book for readers aged 4 to 8, the author-illustrator captures the difficult transition some children experience when they move from picture books to chapter books.

Cora visits the bookstore every day to savour books. Her Auntie Erin reads stories aloud while Cora imagines characters, settings and adventures, drawing accompanying maps. Cora also looks forward to her school library lessons. Both literary spaces are warmly rendered through Sommerville’s illustrations.

While Cora’s peers begin to enjoy longer books, she struggles with reading and becomes tired, frustrated and withdrawn. Eventually, an atlas helps Cora reconnect with reading. This richly illustrated book suits her interests and her reading ability, helping her feel more confident among her classmates.

A Bigger Book addresses dyslexia gently, using a circular structure to reflect how reading can shift from pleasure to despair and, eventually, to success. While the book does not explore specific literacy tools, it highlights the importance of quick intervention to help children identify as readers by connecting them with books that match their interests and abilities. Sally Rippin’s Wild Things: How We Learn to Read and What Can Happen If We Don’t is an excellent resource to further explore these issues.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Joy Lawn has worked for independent bookshops and blogs at Paperbark Words. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

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