The Wicked Big Toddlah Goes to New York

The Wicked Big Toddlah Goes to New York
by Kevin Hawkes
Alfred A. Knopf, 2011. unpaged picture book

Toddie is a really big toddler--really big. Reminiscent of Paul Bunyan, Toddie is so big he rides on top of the train when he goes on vacation with his parents to New York City. New York is pretty wicked big, as well, and it doesn't take long before Toddie is lost. He cries at first, but then he makes friends with some other kids. They play in Central Park, and he lets them climb over him like a bridge, and use him as the mountain in "king of the mountain." When the other kids all go home, Toddie decides to climb the Empire State Building (King Kong style) to try to find his parents. Parents and child are reunited, and head back home to Maine, but not before Toddie chooses a souvenir. This book is full of clever pictures and dialog. The parent's Maine dialect is a hoot. The illustrations, done in typical Hawkes style, have both obvious and less obvious humor. This is the second book about Toddie. The account of his first year is found in The Wicked Big Toddlah, (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007).

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