I Told a Little Lie by Judith Henderson

I can’t tell a lie… I was expecting I TOLD A LITTLE LIE, by Judith Henderson to be predictable. I mean how many books about lying— you shouldn’t do it— always tell the truth— can there be?

But I was reeled in by the first page,

“It all started with a balloon that was blowing by… (great page turn here!) … and the girl who caught it.”

And guess what— this charming book wasn’t predicable after all!

There are two sets of side characters who interject comments and humor throughout the story. Keeping the text spare, but adding varied perspectives to the narrative. I think this is a bit tricky to pull off because it’s important that we keep our focus on our protagonist and their journey. I really appreciate a book like this, though, that does use this vehicle brilliantly well. It also points out the importance of the illustrations telling a part of the story too, so that we actually have many different perspectives of the story all going on at once, which makes for a more impactful and re-readable book.

The illustrations appear simple, but the use of creative mixed media adds interest and layers. The side characters are made smaller, or larger, in the foreground, or background, depending on where, or with whom, our author wants our focus.

Our main character catches the balloon and our secondary cast assumes it must be a birthday balloon. And this is what really I liked— our little main character doesn’t answer. She doesn’t actually lie, but her silence allows the assumption to build and it gives her silence roots to grow into a lie— Which it does.

there will be cake—

Very special cake.

With lots of layers, buttercream frosting, and sprinkles.

The unfolding of the lie, the implications, and responsibility, are all delivered with gentle humor by our bunnies and ant cast.

The little girl thinks about it and comes up with a brilliant solution— cupcakes!

Everyone is happy, lessons learned, and the ending?

Someone else catches a balloon.

Tons and tons of tiny details sprinkled with witty humor make this book a read on repeat—

and that’s no lie🎈