I recently read the 2023 picture book The Big Cheese. It’s written by Jory John and illustrated by Pete Oswald, a pair who have worked together before, such as in The Good, The Bad, and the Spooky.
The Big Cheese is similar to these other works. The illustrations of big-headed characters with huge eyes– the seed in The Bad Seed series, for example–and wheels or wedges of cheese in this case–are immediately appealing. They are fun to look at, even when just standing around (as wheels of cheese apparently do).
The idea of the story is solid: the Big Cheese who gives the book its title is self-important, and is dedicated to being great and being known for being great embodies some bad characteristics. This gestures toward a downfall, letting kids anticipate what’s to come.
In this case, Wedge (a wedge of cheese) moves to town, and he is the opposite of the Big Cheese: quiet, self-contained, and shy. Then comes the “Cheese-cathlon,” a competition involving familiar events (a foot race) and some that are newer and funnier (hatmaking, bread buttering, etc.) Wedge wins, but stays humble, and that first really upsets the Big Cheese, then sets off a time of change and growth.
And, like in earlier books, that’s where this book stalls for me. The lessons are so overt they seem like lectures, and the change happens too quickly.
So, while I enjoy looking at this book, reading it falls a bit flat.
