Big Mean Mike is the toughest dog in town. He's got the attitude and car to prove it. But when cute, fuzzy, tiny bunnies start showing up in his car, Mike becomes very worried that they will harm his reputation. Finally he stops driving his car altogether because of the bunnies showing up all the time. But when the Monster Truck rally comes to the next town over, there is no way he's going to miss it. So he checks his car thoroughly and deems it safe to drive with no cuteness anywhere to be seen. When he gets to the rally, though, he finds fuzziness in his car. He realizes that leaving all that cuteness in his car surrounded by big, tough and mean dogs was not very smart. So he takes the cuteness inside with him. Eventually Mike is able to accept that he likes tiny, fuzzy bunnies and doesn't care what anyone else thinks.Could be a great read-aloud, but I worry about the length. My 2-year old loves this book so much! He woke us up at 2am one night to beg to read it. It's a wonderfully written story, with a plot (I cannot stress enough how rare that is in kids books these days) that respects its readers' intelligence. The explicit story is about picking your friends based on shared interests, not how others perceive you - being true to yourself, etc. But there's an implicit lesson about how the strongest among us have a responsibility to the smallest. Mike might benign and mean but he's never anything but gentle (if gruff) with the cute, fuzzy bunnies. And when their safety and well-being puts his image at risk, he chooses protecting the bunnies he doesn't even like without any prevarication. This is a story I will happily read to my son every day for as long as he likes!
What do You think about Big Mean Mike (2012)?
Good illustrations, cute story about being comfortable with who you are and who you hang out with.
—jo_jo
A fun read aloud for lots of ages. Good for talk around theme or plot for minilesson work.
—DamonzNapier
This is very funny, and the pictures are great!
—carla79
