The Big Dreams of Small Creatures

Praise for The Big Dreams of Small Creatures:

“In the delightful new book The Big Dreams of Small Creatures by Gail Lerner, a young girl named Eden Evans discovers she can speak Wasp: Yes, she can actually speak to them, with the help of a kazoo, but I digress. From that miraculous discovery to the thrilling roller coaster ending, Eden and August, who is terrified of insects and wants to destroy them, find conflict and adventure and a whole new world in the coexistence between humans and insects. What an enchanting and wondrous book for young readers.” —Jamie Lee Curtis, actress and bestselling children’s book author

“From fumbling fourth-grader August to introspective, independence-loving Eden and their friends, both human and insect, Gail Lerner’s characters are a delight, full of heart and humor. The Big Dreams of Small Creatures is a whimsical adventure highlighting the wonders of the natural world—and our sometimes complicated relationship with it—and the importance of kindness, compassion, and seeing things through another’s eyes.” —Robert Beatty, author of the bestselling Serafina series and Willa series
 
“An extraordinary and entertaining cast of characters on a remarkable eco-mission. Hopeful, upbeat, and triumphant. Our world literally needs this story in it.” —Lisa McMann, New York Times bestselling author of The Forgotten Five: Map of Flames

“Gail Lerner’s The Big Dreams of Small Creatures is heartfelt and humorous. Told from two often opposing but equally understandable perspectives, Lerner’s wonderful debut middle grade novel has a staggeringly original concept, richly-drawn characters, a healthy dose of environmental optimism, and a touch of magic. Anyone who reads this lovely book will come away with a better appreciation for how everyone—and every thing—has a place in our world.” —Stuart Gibbs, author of the bestselling FunJungle, Spy School, and Moon Base Alpha series

“The prose is beautiful . . . [and] readers may be drawn to the strong messages about environmentalism, friendship, and self-discovery. A slowly unfolding read for bug lovers and environmentalists.” —Kirkus

“Lerner's entertaining, unconventional novel sees humans and insects share narration duties, allowing for a wide range of perspectives, deep empathy, and a marvelous sense of humor. An inventive, endearing story that will make an entomologist and environmental activist out of anyone.” —Booklist

“Two kids at cross purposes intersect over insects in this environmentally invested novel . . [with] alternating arcs [that] invest readers in a world where curiosity leads to discovery, empathy proves a key ingredient in multiple kinds of conflict, and interspecies bonding is portrayed as key to global survival.” —Publishers’ Weekly | In the Wings

August stood backstage in the darkness, whispering tongue twisters to himself.

“Rubber baby buggy bumpers. Rubber baby buggy bumpers. Rubber baby buggy bumpers. The sixth sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick. The sixth sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick.”

The area he was standing in was called the wings. When Ms. Batra, the school’s drama teacher, first told his class that a stage had wings, August imagined the broad wooden floor taking off, like a giant bird or airplane, and flying in circles above the folding chairs below. He was surprised and a bit disappointed to learn that the wings were actually the dusty space on either side of the stage, where the curtains hung in bunched-up clusters while the performance was taking place.

August peered out at the bright stage, admiring the three cardboard walls that were decorated to look like the inside of a house. Unlike a real house, which had a fourth wall to keep the house warm and private and keep strangers from looking in, a stage set had only three walls on purpose, so the audience could see everything inside: the three chairs, the three beds, and the three bowls of porridge.
 
August rocked on the balls of his feet, impatient for his first entrance as Papa Bear. He wasn’t nervous, just excited. He’d been so eager for this moment that he’d been tearing the pages off his word-a-day calendar without even glancing at the daily word. He’d thought that Thursday, April 29th, would never come, but it was finally here: the day of their first performance for the entire school. The big show for their parents would be that Saturday, but the idea of performing for their classmates was even more exciting. The annual play was the only time August got to be a star at school. For at least a week after each show, kids and teachers from all grades would stop him in the hall and say how good he was.
 
Today, the lunchroom-slash-assembly-room-slash-theater was packed with kindergartners through fifth graders, thrilled all to be missing class to see a show. August was only in fourth grade, but he’d been in many plays. He’d discovered that he loved acting when his kindergarten class had per­formed a dance in the school’s Spring Festival. August had played a sunflower. The whole dance had only lasted about a minute, but as he moved from lying curled on the floor in green felt overalls, to rising to his feet, to finally standing on his tiptoes as he reached his yellow-gloved hands toward the papier-mâché sun, August realized that he wanted to spend every minute of his life onstage. When he was acting, he was no longer the anxious, chubby-cheeked li