Sandra Nickel & Il Sung Na
Big Bear and Little Fish

Friendship comes in all sizes
Bear loves being big! At the carnival, Bear wants to win a teddy bear as big as she is. Instead, she gets a fish. A very little fish. Bear is so very big and Fish is so very small that Bear worries they have nothing in common.
But although Fish might look small, she proves to be bigger than Bear ever thought she could be. And Bear learns that sometimes even a big bear can be small in the big, wide world. With the help of Fish, Bear learns that even though she and Fish are different, they are also a little the same.
Gentle, accessible prose by Sandra Nickel is paired with richly textured illustrations by Il Sung Na in this sweet story about accepting others for who they are.
Big Bear and Little Fish was named a Charlotte Huck Award Recommended Book by the National Council of Teachers of English. The Charlotte Huck Award recognizes fiction that has the “potential to transform children’’s lives by inviting compassion, imagination, and wonder.”
Carolrhoda Books
Picture Book
Age 4+
32 pp | US$ 18.99
hc | 254 x 254 mm
Publication: September 2022
Author: Sandra Nickel
Illustrator: Il Sung Na
Rights sold: Korean, all other rights available, excl. Chinese (simpl. & compl.), Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish
- Look inside
- Book trailer
- Friendship comes in all sizes
- Gentle, accessible prose & richly textured illustrations
- Sweet story about accepting others for who they are
Awards
- Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee, Nominated, 2024
- Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction Recommended Book, Commended, 2023



“A delightful tale of unexpected friendship.”—Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2022
“The expressive, stylized art makes excellent use of color, and, like the well-worded narrative, it contrasts the small but confident fish with the large yet tentative bear . . . Fun for reading aloud.”— Booklist, 1 September 2022
“This story showcases our similarities, even if we might not see them at first glance, opening the door to discussion about how we connect with each other more deeply than appearances.”—Children’s Literature (CLCD), 17 October 2022
By the same author and illustrator