A book review of The Biggest Smallest Thing by Sara de Waal
Stars: *****
Annick Press (2025)
Picture Book>Science
Disclosure: I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.
Summary: A STEAM-packed celebration of outside-the-box thinking set during a school science fair—perfect for fans of Ada Twist, Scientist.
It’s time for the Scintillating Science Symposium, and Mo is determined to win this year’s competition. He knows his classmates are talented, but none of them are serious scientists like him . . . especially not Muriel. After all, Mo wants to be a chemist when he grows up; Muriel wants to be a cat. Besides, Mo has the best idea to turn something small into something big. He just can’t forget his secret ingredient . . .
As the day of the Symposium arrives, readers will love discovering the scientific surprises behind the Sunnysill Elementary students’ projects, from lemon meringue pie to boogers. Ana Stretcu’s energetic and charming artwork further emphasizes how fun STEAM can be and how creativity can help answer big questions—in the classroom and beyond.
The Biggest Smallest Thing
When an adult reads a picture book, they can generally tell what the end will be like. They are often predictable. I was pleasantly surprised with the ending. It turned out to be better than what I had predicted.
In this book, a budding scientist and his classmates are participating in a school science contest. I love the challenge the teacher gives. I could see doing that in my homeschool class too. It seems fun and educational.
The illustrations by Ana Stretcu are adorable and remind me of a cartoon that might be on TV. Each of the children have their own personality and there is a wide diversity of students and teacher as well. It’s important to have children feel included in the stories.
At the end of the book is information each of the student’s projects for the contest and how you can replicate them yourself. I think this is a nice addition. You can get a look inside as well as activity sheets from the publisher’s page.
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