Book Nook: The Tiniest Tumbleweed

Everyone feels small or inadequate at some point in their lives. The Tiniest Tumbleweed, a children's book by first-time author Kathy Peach, is a story strategically constructed to help children think big thoughts about what they can do to become their best selves, in spite of their circumstances. It is the story of two Sonoran Desert characters, a tiny tumbleweed and a baby house sparrow. Both Tiny Tumbleweed and Baby Sparrow enter their worlds with similar challenges—they worry they are too small to accomplish the things bigger tumbleweeds and birds do, like making seeds and flying.

I got to review the book, and my favorite part of it was the wise expression from Mother Tumbleweed: "You will be as big and strong as YOU will be, and that is just fine, just fine indeed." As the little ones try things, they help each other, becoming useful, and encouraging young readers to work within their own abilities to help others. 

As a teacher, I also liked the back part of the book, which had some great middle elementary lesson plans about the book that brought in several different elements of the story and some interdisciplinary questions.