Seamus’s Short Story

Seamus’s Short Story

Written by: Hartt-Sussman, Heather
Illustrated by: Pavlović, Milan
ages 4 to 7 / grades K to 2
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Seamus is short, and from where he is standing, the world appears to be made for tall people.

Seamus would give anything to be taller! One day, while playing dress-up in his mother’s closet, he finds a way to reach new heights.

With his mother’s high-heeled shoes on, Seamus can suddenly reach everything that was once too high: the top-floor elevator button, the chocolate milk in the fridge, the TV remote and that horrid picture of him as a baby. But when Seamus encounters problems that can’t be solved from a great height, he has to admit that sometimes being small just isn’t so bad.

Acclaimed picture book author Heather Hartt-Sussman brings a light touch to this nuanced story about acceptance, resourcefulness and love, complemented by the humor and beauty in Milan Pavlović’s colorful paintings of Seamus’s world — where there are times to be tall and times to be small.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6
With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3
Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.2
Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.

Seamus is short, and from where he is standing, the world appears to be made for tall people.

Seamus would give anything to be taller! One day, while playing dress-up in his mother’s closet, he finds a way to reach new heights.

With his mother’s high-heeled shoes on, Seamus can suddenly reach everything that was once too high: the top-floor elevator button, the chocolate milk in the fridge, the TV remote and that horrid picture of him as a baby. But when Seamus encounters problems that can’t be solved from a great height, he has to admit that sometimes being small just isn’t so bad.

Acclaimed picture book author Heather Hartt-Sussman brings a light touch to this nuanced story about acceptance, resourcefulness and love, complemented by the humor and beauty in Milan Pavlović’s colorful paintings of Seamus’s world — where there are times to be tall and times to be small.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6
With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3
Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.2
Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.

Published By Groundwood Books Ltd — Aug 1, 2017
Specifications 32 pages | 7.875 in x 10.75 in
Written By

HEATHER HARTT-SUSSMAN graduated from Brandeis University and attended the Sorbonne. She has been a copywriter for BCP in Montreal, a reporter for the Hollywood Reporter, editor-in-chief for international news for TV Guide in French Canada, where she was columnist of the popular “Heather Hartt in Hollywood,” and host of E! Entertainment Television’s The Gossip Show. She is the author of the acclaimed Nana’s Getting Married trilogy and the Noni series. Noni Is Nervous was an Editors’ Choice book in the New York Times Sunday Book Review. Her books have been nominated for Blue Spruce and Shining Willow Awards. She lives in Toronto.
Illustrated by

MILAN PAVLOVIĆ lives in Toronto with his family. When he is not illustrating picture books, drawing or playing the ukulele, he is teaching visual communication and illustration at OCAD University and Seneca College. He has illustrated over fifty children's books including Son of Happy by Cary Fagan, The Boy Who Invented the Popsicle by Anne Renaud, and Moon Wishes by Guy and Patricia Storms. He created the lyrical wordless picture book Sonata for Fish and Boy.
Written By

HEATHER HARTT-SUSSMAN graduated from Brandeis University and attended the Sorbonne. She has been a copywriter for BCP in Montreal, a reporter for the Hollywood Reporter, editor-in-chief for international news for TV Guide in French Canada, where she was columnist of the popular “Heather Hartt in Hollywood,” and host of E! Entertainment Television’s The Gossip Show. She is the author of the acclaimed Nana’s Getting Married trilogy and the Noni series. Noni Is Nervous was an Editors’ Choice book in the New York Times Sunday Book Review. Her books have been nominated for Blue Spruce and Shining Willow Awards. She lives in Toronto.
Illustrated by

MILAN PAVLOVIĆ lives in Toronto with his family. When he is not illustrating picture books, drawing or playing the ukulele, he is teaching visual communication and illustration at OCAD University and Seneca College. He has illustrated over fifty children's books including Son of Happy by Cary Fagan, The Boy Who Invented the Popsicle by Anne Renaud, and Moon Wishes by Guy and Patricia Storms. He created the lyrical wordless picture book Sonata for Fish and Boy.

Commended, Globe 100 Best Books, 2017

“A clever and very funny picture book about living life on one’s own terms.” —School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

“This familiar-seeming tale about being small in a world built for the tall takes an unexpected and rewarding turn.” —Publishers Weekly

“Readers will enjoy Seamus' solution to his conundrum as much as they will illustrator Pavlović's cartoonlike pictures … The resulting combination of text and image conspires to offer a story that is short, but big in satisfaction.” —Booklist