Let's start with this: I adore dogs and love donuts... Which was biggest reason I picked up this book. It may be called big words in small stories. But you will be booked and hooked from the very first page, with amazing illustrations and adorable little stories!

This was such a fun book to read! Finn loved reading about Crat and his hijinx. He was laughing the entire time I was reading this to him and I actually want to buy the book for him.

We enjoyed this book very much. Although it is not one story about the Missing Donut, the first story is, but there are many stories in it. The stories are cute and teach kids Big Words, how to pronounce them and what they mean in an entertaining way. We really enjoyed the illustrations. The only negative I could find is that the stories don’t really have a good ending, they just seem to stop, after something maybe bad has happened and there are no consequences to the bad actions. For example, in one of the stories Crat (the crafty cat) wrecks his owner’s bike, the owner says Crat must fix it, the story stops there. Then another example, Crat break an “art” piece at the museum that he replaces for a balloon and they run away when someone finds out. Other than that, the book is really entertaining and kids get to learn new Big Words in a fun way.

I never have much in the way of expectations when it comes to easy readers because the focus is more on vocabulary than storytelling. This one is fairly standard for plot, in that there isn't much of one. The stories are very simple. The format is outstanding. Each story has a low level vocabulary with a single multiple syllable word. There is ample notice that the complex word is coming, a pronunciation guide, a simple definition, and a good amount of context to understand it's use. Each story's plot is essentially just prolonged context for the larger word. It's not much of a pleasure read but as an educational tool, it's spot on.

I LOVE the idea of the book but the execution could have been better. The "big" words chosen were okay, I liked the use of "purloined" but "discombobulated" and "bamboozled" seemed forced. A lot of the writing sounds forced. Instead of creating a natural story and adding a large word, it seemed the word was chosen first and then the story written. The dialogue between Cris and Crat (stupid names) is the same drivel that can be found in any cut rate cartoon. I wanted to like this book because I am a lover of big words, but the final product was a disappointment.

This book is so great, I only wish I owned it so I could better share the love on social media. I love how fun this story makes words, not to mention how easy kids will be able to use context clues to figure out the harder words.

Early readers have certainly gotten better since the days of Dick and Jane. What is especially cool, with this early reader, is that it doesn’t stick to the list of easy words, but for each story, a new, special difficult word is thrown in, such as the example below, discombobulated.

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Or this example, where the word is bamboozled.

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There are little helpers that announce the big word is coming. Then the big word is used in a sentence, so you can see it in context, and then, at the end of the story, it is defined, in case you weren’t able to figure it out, through reading the story.

The short stories, or short chapters are fun, funny,and easy to read, and the pictures are fun too. The only problem I had with one, is where the cat breaks a museum peice and gets away with it. I feel that might send a bad message to kids.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

My 5-year old and I both enjoyed this book. The pictures were great, the story was fun and cute, and she loooved all the big words. Would definitely recommend this one to others.

Five very playful short stories with Cris, a young boy who likes things a certain way and his cat, Crat, who is just the opposite. Then we have the Sprinkle Fairy who has a word factory in Sicily who sprinkles us with big words: Bamboozled, Smithereens, Purloined, Discombobulated and Galoshes. The youngsters are going to have a lot of fun with these names and the adults will no doubt have fun explaining them. A couple of the short stories work better than the others but overall a book that kids will have fun with.

As a teacher, I am ECSTATIC about this book! It’s funny, with SPLENDID illustrations - and MARVELOUS examples of context clues, pronunciation guides, and quotation marks! I can’t wait to add this to my classroom library and use it to model reading and writing skills. This book is PHENOMENAL!

This is a fun way to introduce new words to children. "Big words" that are used in the story, appear at the end of each little story to give a definition of that word. The book provides an introduction as to how the big words will be introduced to the reader. This is fun, educational, and great for beginner readers.

Big Words Small Stories is 5 short stories told like a comic book.
There are big words that are described which is nice they aren't just used and kids don't know what they mean.

Big Words Small Stories: The Missing Donut by Judith Henderson is a wonderful book that could be a start of great series.

It is a cross between a picture book and a comic. Illustrations are well done and very engaging.

The book is set as five short stories and its aim is to teach children new words.
Although I found some words not the best choice I loved the concept and as I said it could be a beginning of something really entertaining and also educational
I especially liked that at the end it combines all newly learnt words for a recap.
I also feel that due to the illustrations this is very engaging and interesting for slightly younger readers as well as the older ones.

I loved this book, great idea and very creative way of educating children and adults! I like the way the ‘big’ words were introduced throughout the short stories and towards the end of the book how you could use them in another context however the stories I felt were for a younger age group then the words being taught which I would think would be better aimed at the 10-13 year age group. Good educational book.

'Big Words Small Stories: The Missing Donut' by Judith Henderson with illustrations by T.L. McBeth is a series of short stories that all feature a big word. And a cat that likes to cause trouble.

The stories in this book are for younger readers. They feature a boy named Cris and his Cat, Crat. There is also a Sprinkle Fairy who likes to wave her wand and add a big word to each story. For the story of the missing donut, the word is Purloined. It includes a pronunciation guide and plenty of definitions. Each of the first 5 stories includes a new big word. The last story features all 5 of the previous big words.

The stories are cute. The Sprinkle Fairy's friends, the sprinklers are cute and enthusiastic. The introduction of the big word in the story seems to distract from the story being told, but I guess that's part of the fun.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Kids Can Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

Five short stories about a boy named Cris and his cat named Crat come together. Each story also features the Sprinkle Fairy and her helpers the Sprinklers who insert BIG WORDS into the story - words like purloined and bamboozled. Each of the big words is then used in the last story.

To be honest, I was a little worried I wouldn’t like this book when I first read about the Sprinkle Fairy and her Sprinklers, but the easy to read stories are humorous, the illustrations are fun, and I know many kids who would love reading this book and learning some of these “big words.” Big Words Small Stories: The Missing Donut is a cleaver approach to developing a larger vocabulary for children.

I read this with my 4-year-old. I really liked how we got warnings about "big words" coming up and a definition for them throughout the book. The stories were silly, but the big words were enjoyable and a little educational. I'm not sure if there are more books in this style, but we'd be interested in reading them if there are.

Wonderful story that teaches big words. Great for a readaloud for older kiddos. Will buy for library

I echo the comments of "etienne" in a previous. I did not finish the book. I found it cringe-worthy - an adult's idea of what a child should be reading.

This book is so much fun. And it makes learning big words fun as well. The Sparkle Fairy is in charge of big works. And her little sparklers help a reader get ready for the big word. Cris is our main boy in the story along with his cat Crat. They get into all sorts of fun trouble. This is a beginner chapter book, but would be awesome for reluctant readers because it is fully illustrated, the pages, are short, and each chapter is like it’s own little story that just lasts about 4 or 5 pages. A wonderful book and i hope there are more.