Little Ellen by Ellen DeGeneres, Eleanor Michalka
Published by Random House Books for Young Readers on May 3, 2022
ISBN: 0593378601
Pages: 32
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Picture Book Fiction
Goodreads

In this picture book, Little Ellen uses rhyming couplets to share the message that it’s best to be one’s most authentic self through love, kindness, and caring. It starts with Little Ellen questioning what makes Ellen “Ellen” – not what she says or things, but what she does for others. Between the subplot of a secondary character that Ellen cheers up and and then leaves in a gazebo, inelegant rhyme schemes, and illustrations that are colorful to the point of sensory overload, the message is obscured.

Between rhymes that contort themselves to fit the theme and illustrations that are overwrought, this is not a useful or enjoyable book.

Reviewed by Deanna Contrino, Young School Library, Saco