Is It Big or Is it Little?

 To a mouse, almost everything is big — but to the cat that starts chasing him, things look a bit different.

Eerdmans, 2013

From the New York Times:

The book has a chic, graphic look: if it were an outfit, you’d be proud to wear it into Hermès. The double-page spreads are colored exclusively in an urbane palette of persimmon, glossy black, cream and putty gray; a cat, dog, mouse and a couple of ants scamper across them, telling a little story about perspective as they go.

The world looks quite different to the perpetually anxious mouse than it does to his pursuer, the prowling cat: a puddle is deep, a ball of wool is big, the yarn is long. But the addition of a bulldog is a game-changer, and in the flip of a page the cat is transformed from scary to scared. Though brief, “Is It Big or Is It Little?” is attractive, funny and filled with exciting action; you may come away from it humming the tune to “The Pink Panther.” Rueda’s resourceful mouse has something in common with that charming cartoon creature.