Review of "The Giant from the Little Island," by Walter Kreye

Review of

The Giant from the Little Island, by Walter Kreye ISBN 1558580859

Four out of five stars

 This book is another in the fairly common genre of gentle giant stories written for children. It opens with a giant living peaceably on an island all by himself. However, a great storm came up and was so powerful and lengthy that it washed the entire island away. This forced the giant to get in his boat and search for a new place to live.

 He landed on a shore where he encountered a simple fisherman that is at first terrified, but soon realized that there was nothing to fear. This was the start of a series of adventures involving the giant and his new friend. They travel together and build a series of Ferris wheels at the villages they visit. The king is so pleased at the new happiness in his domain that he asks the giant and the fisherman what they would like in compensation. Being simple people, they settle for having their own island so that they can look across the water and see the humans at play but are not bothered by the noise and bustle of humans going about their lives.

 This is a book with an easy to understand plot that will appeal to children, for whom all adults are giants. Which is of course one of the driving forces of the genre of stories involving a gentle giant. The images have a washed-out style with many of the features, such as the giant’s arms, blending into each other. The level of the text is at the later years of elementary school and it has a happy ending that will uplift the reader.