Book Review of Tiny Worlds: A Story About Appreciating the Small Things
The Children’s Book Review
Tiny Worlds: A Story About Appreciating the Small Things
Written and Illustrated by Brittany Cicchese
Ages 3+ | 32 Pages
Publisher: Candlewick (2025) | ISBN-13: 978-1-5362-3652-1
What to Expect: Picture book, grandparent-grandchild bond, introverted child, imagination, miniature worlds, mindfulness, and nature.
A quiet, imaginative boy shows his grandmother how to find whole worlds in the smallest corners of everyday life.
A young boy’s visits to Grandma’s house come with plenty of outings, like a bustling park, a hike in the woods, a breezy beach, and a trip to the zoo. But while everyone else takes in the big picture, he’s crouched low, peering into places most people walk right past. A pie tin, a cluster of mushrooms, or a tide pool can each become a miniature kingdom full of busy little lives. The trouble is that no one else seems to notice these tiny worlds. Grandma keeps nudging him toward the wide, noisy world, until she begins to wonder whether she might be the one who needs to look a little closer.
In her debut as an author, award-winning illustrator Brittany Cicchese writes with a gentle, unhurried touch that honors the inner life of a quiet boy whose quietness and attentiveness are framed as a gift—an innate understanding that noticing is its own kind of magic. Grandma takes him where she can, and in return he teaches her to slow down and be present. Their intergenerational relationship unfolds with real tenderness throughout this introspective story that invites young readers to get down on their bellies and play.
Cicchese’s illustrations carry a delightful Borrowers sensibility, with a soft, sun-dappled palette reminiscent of Studio Ghibli’s The Secret World of Arrietty (an animated take of Norton’s Borrowers novel). The art shifts between intimate close-ups, where readers drop right into the boy’s miniature scenes, and sweeping double-page spreads that pull back to reveal gorgeous surroundings and plenty of small goings-on to discover. That rhythm between close and wide mirrors the story’s heart: the big world and the tiny one are both worth seeing, and how they can be enjoyed together.
An intergenerational celebration of imagination and mindfulness, Tiny Worlds is a stunning pick for quiet bedtime reads, nature-walk companions, and any family looking to slow down and savor the little things—it will especially resonate with introverted and observant children and with the grown-ups who love them.
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About the Author
Brittany Cicchese is an artist and writer with many years of experience working in public libraries. She illustrated Emily Jenkins’s The Kitten Story: A Mostly True Tale and Meg Medina’s No More Señora Mimí. Of this book, the first she has written, she says, “As a child, I often retreated to imaginary worlds when I felt overwhelmed, finding comfort in creating stories and building detailed playscapes. My fascination with tiny, secret worlds grew over time, and I loved seeing familiar, everyday objects in a completely new light . . . it was its own type of magic.”Apart from creating, she enjoys connecting people with stories, exploring the Rocky Mountains, and browsing every new picture book at her local library. Brittany Cicchese lives with her family in Denver.
