Mini and Milo: The Big Flappy Ears by Venita DiMos and Natashia Curtin

Title: Mini and Milo: The Big Flappy Ears

Author: Venita DiMos and Natashia Curtin

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Walker Books

Published: 1^st September 2023

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 32

Price: $25.99

Synopsis: Story-led, with humour and heart, with “Big Skills for Mini People” the “hidden veggies”, Mini and Milo help children gain much-needed skills such as conflict management and resilience skills.

Mini’s ears are bigger than big and huger than huge … but she has a problem. They aren’t very good at listening. When Mini misses out on the excursion, she realises that maybe her ears aren’t the problem after all. It’s not the size or shape of your ears that count but using them!

This series follows the adventures of Mini and Milo as they navigate friendship and all its ups and downs –example, competitiveness, managing inner voices, learning to listen, and communicating effectively.

Big Skills for Mini People: Listening

~*~

Mini and Milo are back for another story that has hidden vegies – lessons for little people told in a fun, accessible, and relatable way. In this outing, Mini knows she has big ears – so listening should be easy, right? Not really – Mini tries to listen but something happens, and she always misses something. Like the information she needs for the school excursion. And when Milo gets back, Mini is determined to try harder and listen more.

She tries everything, but is it the size of her ears? Or is it how she uses them? Mini and her friends are going to do everything they can to help Mini become a better listener, and at the same time, tell her inner voice when she needs to listen! Can Mini learn to listen with the help of her friends?

Poor Mini! She just wants to do the right thing but there is always something that stops her – and it’s not always her fault, really. She’s still learning, and there are some things that don’t come that easily to her, like many of us. Kids are constantly learning, as we all are in many ways, and it is those early days, those innate skills that is assumed we all have that Mini has trouble with. Everyone has trouble with all sorts of skills at times, and each Mini story focuses on one skill.

The lesson isn’t one that is forced though, it is told through story and creativity in a way that gives readers what they need in a fun and colourful way. This is because this series can be sued to explore big feelings that people and children can’t always talk about. These are the feelings that we can’t always put into words, that make us scream or cry because words aren’t adequate, or we don’t have the right words. Everyone has been there, and the big problems often have a solution, even if it is not immediate, as Mini learns throughout the series. Mini and Milo assure us that we are not alone, that it is okay to have the feelings we do. We are all human after all, and nobody is perfect. And sometimes we might have the words, but they don’t make sense, aren’t enough, or people don’t fully understand what we are trying to say.

I think this is why this series is good for readers of all ages, to help us understand how we feel, how others feel, and how everyone navigates the world differently and understands the world differently. I hope that this series explores many ways of feeling to help everyone.