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Giant

Book Synopsis

It’s hard to measure up in a family with high expectations. But it’s even harder when those people sometimes use you as an arm rest. And call you ‘Peanut’.

Anzo is 11 years old and very, very short. Mum, Dad and his two uncles are extremely tall but they’re also high achievers, obsessed with fulfilling their lifelong ambition of opening a restaurant together. Everyone has a role – but where does Anzo fit in? If only he could grow a few inches in height, then no one would be able to overlook him.

Then, overnight, Anzo starts to grow. Is life as a giant going to solve all his problems, or should he stop worrying and learn to just be himself?

Our Review Panel says...

This is a thoroughly enjoyable read suitable for lower KS2. It tells the story of Anzo (whose name ironically means ‘giant’), a boy who becomes increasingly concerned about how short he is compared to his family and friends. Through his desperate attempts to change his height, Anzo realizes that growing taller might not be the key to solving all of his problems. This is a compassionate story told with the right balance of humour and poignancy and one that is likely to strike a chord with readers who have experienced the tension between fitting in and feeling free to be themselves.