The characteristics and possible functions of a dot are imaginatively described in this illustrated picture book, concluding that the shape’s best use is as a period marking The End.
Circles of varied sizes fill the pages of this expansive ode to the sense of possibility that can be found in a simple dot. The titular opening line leads to a rhythmic list of things that “this little dot” isn’t: “It’s not/ just a blot/ on a page,” nor the “wide-open eye/ of a cat.” Rather, rhyming text points to the round mark’s scalability as well as its “oomph, roll, and zest.” Devernay, leaning on a limited palette of black, blue, red, and white, supplies shapely cut-paper visuals that often obliquely pair with Yolen’s text. In one spread, penguins and fish swim alongside an ink-squirting squid, accompanying “Not just a spot/ of ink/ on a shirt.” On another page, a white dog bounces a red dot high and low, until the orb halts by the curled-up pup, onto whose sleeping form black spots cascade. Coming to a sudden close, it’s a crisply energetic celebration that considers the humble dot’s many permutations.
–Publishers Weekly, 01/05/2024
Fun, special, and thoroughly 'kid friendly', "See This Little Dot" by veteran children's author Jane Yolen, and the illustrations by gifted artist Laetitia Devernay is a unique and to-be-treasured pick for family, elementary school, and community library picture book collections for children ages 5-7.
–Midwest Book Review, 01/17/2024
The dot may seem like a simple item in a picture or in its use. However, Yolen (author) and Devernay (illustrator) share with the reader, many ways that dots are used. The dot can vary in size and be as huge as the moon or as small as a period. The illustrations show a variety of dots used as a part of the picture. The dots on the page are a part of an animal like a fly’s eye or the spots on a feline. During the reading, young children may point out the different uses of the dot in the pictures...There are many dots used in the layout; the picture shows different possibilities like eyes, spots, and bubbles. After reading the book, teachers may have students create their own pictures with dots as part of read aloud extension activity. Children may have fun using their imagination to further explore the use of dots in their own creations.
–Children's Literature, 02/17/2024