Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Little Pea | 2005 | Amy Krouse Rosenthal | Buy |
| 2 | Little Hoot | 2007 | Amy Krouse Rosenthal | Buy |
| 3 | Little Oink | 2009 | Amy Krouse Rosenthal | Buy |
The Little series by Amy Krouse Rosenthal takes familiar bedtime and dinnertime struggles and flips them on their head. Each book features a young character forced to do something that sounds like every kid’s dream but is their personal nightmare.
Little Pea (2005) has to eat candy for dinner before he can have his dessert: spinach. Little Hoot (2007) is an owl whose parents insist he stay up late, even though he just wants to go to sleep. Little Oink (2009) rounds out the trio as a pig who gets scolded for keeping her room too clean. All three books, illustrated by Jen Corace, use the same deadpan reversal to get laughs from kids and parents alike. The series works well as read-alouds because the joke clicks immediately for young listeners who know exactly what it feels like to be told to do something they don’t want to do.