The Littlest Bigfoot

June 13, 2016
Bestselling adult author Weiner (In Her Shoes) makes a winning children’s book debut with this witty story of outcasts coming together, first in a trilogy. With her outsize height and unruly mane of hair, 12-year-old Alice Mayfair doesn’t fit anywhere and longs for a friend. In a parallel narrative, Millie Maximus, a small “Yare” (“what the humans call Bigfoots”), longs to sing, chafes at the Elders’ strict rules of secrecy, and seeks to learn more about the No-Furs (humans). Meanwhile, Jeremy Bigelow, an ignored Bigfoot-obsessive, meets a fellow believer in a girl named Jo. These stories collide when Alice arrives at the Experimental Center for Love and Learning, a hippy-dippy boarding school housed in a former camp, where she fishes Millie from the lake and forms her first friendship. Weiner effectively raises the stakes as Jeremy and Jo escalate their investigations into Bigfoots and piece together clues to Millie’s true identity. Well-drawn characters, high comedy, and an open-ended finale will leave readers eager for the next installment. Art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Joanna Pulcini, Joanna Pulcini Literary Management. Illustrator’s agency: Agency Rush.

January 30, 2017
This sweet and engaging middle school story about a budding friendship translates beautifully to audio. Twelve-year-old Alice Mayfair feels like a misfit: ignored by her rich socialite parents, shuttled from school to school, self-conscious about her large size and wild untameable hair. Millie Maximus is part of a clan that lives in the woods, known to humans as “Bigfoots.” She longs for adventure and wants to learn more about the human world, but her tribe insists she must stay hidden for her own safety. When the two meet and become fast friends, but their friendship puts the Bigfoots in danger, especially when Jeremy, a teenage boy obsessed with finding Bigfoots, follows Alice into the woods. While all three voice actors are tremendous, actress Galvin gives the standout performance. She creates a memorable voice not only for Alice but also for several secondary characters, including a sniffling young girl with allergies, a snobby rich “mean girl,” and an idealistic, free-spirited school principal. As Millie, actor Ponton strays from the textual description of her character, giving her a grittier, tomboyish voice instead of the beautiful musical voice with the pure sound of a triangle described in the book, but her Millie is immediately likable and relatable. Nobbs sounds exactly like an awkward adolescent kid in his narration of Jeremy. This is a fun and engaging tale that kids will love. Ages 8–12. An Aladdin hardcover.