Mia's Thumb

July 7, 2014
Mia’s thumb is a continuous presence in her mouth, her fist obscuring almost her entire face except her eyes and giving her a Sphinxlike level of enigmatic self-possession. Readers, however, can see that Mia is actually not so inscrutable: she loves her thumb for its amazing emotional utility, how it offers comfort, courage, and calm (“Mia needed her thumb when a movie was too exciting... or too boring”). When it’s clear that no clever or blunt tactic can dissuade Mia from sucking her thumb, Grandma figures her granddaughter is on to something and starts sucking her thumb as well, throwing the entire family dynamic out of whack. Stille doesn’t make the smoothest of landings (some readers may even think a page or two are actually missing from the end of the story), but this is an otherwise strong debut effort. Working in cut-paper collage in neutral tones, Stille gets substantial emotional and comedic range out of her medium, and one image is particularly memorable: Mia jumping off a high dive, hair flying, legs akimbo, and thumb planted firmly in her mouth. Ages 2–5.

July 15, 2014
The whole family tries to help a little girl break a persistent habit in this German import.When Mia is sad, she sucks her thumb for comfort. When she is excited, she sucks her thumb to calm herself down. And when she must face her neighbor's large dog, she sucks her thumb to give herself courage. Mia's family tries everything they can think of to help her stop. Familiar cries of "You are too big for that!" and "Your teeth will get crooked!" fill the house, but Mia doesn't care. Even the promise of ice cream in exchange for a half-hour break from the thumb fails (but only after seven cones). Grandma decides that she will start sucking her thumb too; if Mia likes it so much, why shouldn't she? That just might be the push that Mia needs. Stille's picture-book debut confronts a common problem with a gentle, humorous solution. The large blocks of patterned borders and cut-paper collages in mossy greens and simple earth tones downplay any drama. An abrupt ending never quite reveals if Mia has conquered her habit (one wishes for an extra beat or two of denouement), but her thumb is finally seen out of her mouth. Thumb-sucking solutions can walk a tricky line between cajoling and shaming; happily, this does neither, but it might not be the easiest solution to imitate in real life. (Picture book. 2-5)

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August 1, 2014

PreS-Gr 2-Mia sucks her thumb all the time, while her parents, her brother, and her grandfather make unsuccessful attempts to stop her. Her grandma has a good idea that works temporarily-but then she comes up with an even better idea. The unusual patterned strips, used as endpapers and throughout the story, along with the subdued hues of gray, green and brown, impart an old-fashioned feel. The paper-cut images, though, are lively and witty. The fabulous facial expressions, especially Mia's wide-eyed disregard and Grandma's funny solution to this common situation, form a likable story.-Gaye Hinchliff, King County Library System, WA

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