Dan Yaccarino is known for a quirky style, but usually good, solid stories. This time, Giant Tess combines classic Yaccarino and an old school flair to create a modern fairy tale. Which, unfortunately, is an obvious story that has been done before. It is a case of “Be yourself and anyone of any size can be a hero.” Tess, adopted as a baby, grows so quickly there is no denying it, she is a giant. And that, as one can assume, does not always work well. When she meets a special friend, the two of them can save the day. It is here is when everyone finally like Tess: When she is doing something for them.
With that said, there is nothing wrong with this story outside of my personal, “Eh” moment. And I mostly attribute that to the fact my readers copy was not in the correct order and I had to put the book together before I even read it. Therefore, I already was not enjoying myself. I was unable to really get into the story and to enjoy the amazingly bold, colorful, lush, fun and quirky illustrations.
The pun of Tess growing (and growing) up in Myth-hattan, is clever. There are other puns like this in the illustrations, end pages and the text itself. It is a classic Yaccarino and if you are a fan, this will go right along with his other works. Perhaps ironically the best part of this book is the fact that it has an old-school feeling to the text that makes it a good story. There is nothing fancy about being different, it just is.