What an adorable book! This tells the story of Big Bub, who gets a hat in the mail - but the hat is too small. The rhyming is cute, the illustrations are wonderful, and the addition of some vocabulary and reading questions is great. My 6-year-old enjoyed it even though his reading level is a little past this book.

Big Bub the purple monster wakes up, puts on his socks and shoes and runs to the mailbox. Big Bub is enamored by a “big brown box” that arrives at his house. Inside the box is a turquoise hat, but there’s a problem: “That new hat is much too small./Big Bub does not mind at all!” When Big Bub runs out to his yard/Big Bub feels the wind blow hard!”
He tries to jump in the sky but he can’t reach his hat. He runs again and finally catches it, until he sees a big hat on top of a smaller monster. Together, they exchange hats and are both happy.

Each sentence is repetitive by starting with the words "Big Bub." Rhyming words, such as hat and that, yard, hard, sad, air, there, appear in the story. The sentences are short and simple for beginning readers to understand. I loved the bright, bold and action-filled illustrations. I appreciated that the back of the story has two comprehension questions – and a question that asks kids if they can think of other words that rhyme with “hat” and “that” to build their rhyming skills. This is a fun addition to a Beginning Reader or Easy Reader collection.

Parents Perspective:
As a mom, Big Bub’s Small Hat was a fun and easy read that fit perfectly into our bedtime routine. The story was short enough to hold my girls’ attention all the way through, and the rhyming made it extra engaging. I loved that most of the words were ones they could read themselves it turned into a shared experience rather than just a read-aloud. We even learned a few new words, which felt like a bonus.

The pictures were fun and engaging, and the story sparked lots of giggles and questions. I especially appreciated the conversation prompts at the end of the book. Even though we’d already started chatting about Big Bub and his tiny hat, those questions helped us keep the conversation going in a thoughtful way. It’s the kind of book that invites connection, not just reading.

Twin Perspective
From the twins’ point of view, Big Bub’s Small Hat was hilarious. They were instantly curious about what Big Bub actually was he’s just a big purple fuzzy something, and that mystery made them laugh and wonder. They caught on quickly that the book was rhyming and loved guessing what word might come next. The illustrations were silly and fun, and they kept pointing out their favorite parts.

They asked questions like, “Why didn’t he just get a bigger hat?” which led to some funny and thoughtful bedtime chats. We ended up talking about rhyming words, silly characters, and what makes a hat to big or small. Overall they enjoyed it.