Giant Tess

In Tess’s town of Myth-hattan, everyone is some kind of mythical creature: there are centaurs and Minotaurs, fairies and mer-people, and nobody thinks twice if you have snakes for hair. Tess, however, is the only giant, the adopted daughter of fairy parents, and after a series of mishaps tied to tourist touchpoints in the real Big Apple (cracking the ice at a famous skating rink, accidently smushing a float in the city’s big parade), she’s convinced she doesn’t belong anywhere: “I’m just too big!” But when she helps a giant green dragon with a sore paw, her life turns around as the two “became best friends right away, they were the same size!” And size does seem to matter (as does having a BFF who can fly) when the mayor of Myth-hattan starts to float off on a runaway parade balloon. This tale by Yaccarino (I Am a Story) follows a familiar arc, taking his putative misfit from wanting to be “like everyone else” to feeling she’s “just the right size.” His posterlike graphics, though, and obvious glee in sharing an alternate reality N.Y.C. (a map on the end pages shows “Grand Cyclops Station” and “The Lower Beast Side”) infuse the story with goofy sweetness. Ages 4–8. [em](Apr.) [/em]