What made the Great Antonio so great? He weighed as much as a horse! He once wrestled a bear. He could devour twenty-five roasted chickens at one sitting. In this whimsical book, beloved author and illustrator Elise Gravel tells the true story of Antonio Barichievich, the larger-than-life Montreal strongman who had muscles as big as his heart.
Concentrated outreach to design-savvy parent bloggers and younger media outletsElizabeth Bird's A Fuse #8 Production 2016 Fictionalized Non-Fiction for Kids
TD Summer Reading Club's Top Recommend Reads for 2017
A tribute as heartfelt as it is joyous -Kirkus ReviewsSTARRED REVIEW
Gravel gives us a funny, very kid-friendly story about a gentle giant, someone who twirled children around on his braids, turning himself into a human merry-go-round for their amusement. -School Library Journal Good Comics for Kids
Whats to be made of lives that dont go the way they were supposed to? Gravel shows that theyre worth paying attention to. -Publishers Weekly
Kids will be taken by this larger-than-life figure, who is still beloved in Montreal, the city the Great Antonio called home. -Booklist
Gravels cartoonish art is graphically sophisticated. -Montreal Gazette
In this innovative portraitnot quite a biography yet not quite a legendGravel affectionately places Antonio in the Paul Bunyan tradition of mighty men. -Horn Book Magazine
A modern tale for a new audience. -Mom Read It
TOON Books level 3 for grades 2 - 3
Laugh-out-loud entertaining for young children.
Playful yet sophisticated aesthetic attracts parents; humor and charm keeps the kids.
Hand-lettering lends dynamism to text, which facilitates reading.
Doubles as a read aloud book with toddlers anlc®