Little Aiden: A Big Kid Book for Toddlers - Albert & Anna Choi - ★★★

AUTHORS: Albert & Anna Choi

ILLUSTRATOR: Bettina Brasko

GENRE: Children's Picture Book

PUBLICATION DATE: January 7, 2025

RATING: 3 stars.

In a Nutshell: A sweet picture book about a little kid who is now a Big Kid. Some funny moments here, but not sure of the repeat reading value. The illustrations are a winner.

This is the third standalone book in the Little Aiden series. The first two books – ‘Little Aiden: A Feelings Book for Toddlers’ and ‘Little Aiden: A Love Book for Toddlers’ were more about affirmations of parents’ love for children, and were written from the parents’ perspective. This book is more about the unexpected comicality of toddlerhood, and comes from Aiden’s first-person POV. The latter subtly reminds us that Aiden is now grown up enough to speak for himself.

Aiden, who is now a toddler, considers himself a Big Kid, and goes to tell us about all the new Big Kid things he can now do, such as peel a banana or create art. But as all parents of toddlers know, these little tornadoes can leave a wake of destruction behind them, even when they don't mean to. Thus every Big Kid task involves some kind of smacking-forehead moment for the parents.

The book does have many funny moments. However, I am undecided about whether each humorous scene would be chuckle-inducing for little ones. They might genuinely view Aiden’s attempt at creating art on walls as an imaginative idea, or of emptying the entire roll of toilet paper after using the potty as a fun activity. Only parents will see the frustration hidden within these actions. It would work better if parents use Aiden’s goofs as a learning opportunity for their little ones on what should have been done instead.

I think the book would have benefited by the addition of some interactive content at the end. It does end by asking little readers if they consider themselves a Big Kid, but there could have been some space to write/draw what new things they can now do independently.

The book is written in simple text, with not more than 1-2 lines per page. The vocabulary is quite age-appropriate. In fact, if my memory serves me right, the book is the simplest in word usage of all three Aiden books, possibly because this one comes to us straight from toddler Aiden’s perspective.

The illustrator is the same as before, and hence the artwork is of the same quality as before. I love the mischief in Aiden’s eyes. I was also happy to see Aiden’s loyal teddy by his side even now, seemingly undamaged and still trying to guide his little charge out of mischief.

All always, there’s a photo of the real Aiden at the end of the book and even a cute video accessible through a QR code, that shows readers how much the little fella has grown over the past three years. I am sure parents would enjoy the video more nostalgically than kids as it proves how fast time zooms by and the littlies are suddenly not so little.

All in all, I found the book decent enough, but it was a bit too simple in its approach for my liking. But if you are looking for a picture book with comic toddler moments, this could be a good choice. The content works for toddler-aged children.

I purchased this book when it was available as a freebie on Amazon. The digital version of this book is currently available on Kindle Unlimited.