Ruthie and the (Not So) Teeny Tiny Lie

Despite having “an Amazon problem” (according to my husband), I very rarely leave reviews. I felt compelled to in this case because this book is a gem. My 4 year daughter told a series of mortifying lies at her school and thus we were tasked with having to explain the truth versus a lie. I was at a loss because unless you are a preschool teacher, explaining abstract concepts to kids is difficult. This book was exactly what we needed. The story is adorable and was completely accessible for my child. She asked me several questions about lying afterward and now I’m hoping she won’t tell tall tales at school anymore. Highly recommended!

Bought this for our son so we could have another book to talk about lying and stealing, other than the Boy Who Cried Wolf which is great in theory but apparently no longer culturally relevant in our world (he was just confused I think as to why a little boy was watching a bunch of sheep and why he was in so much trouble for getting them eaten up. We did explain, but again, I think the concept is lost on him since he has never seen a shepherd and can't imagine a child in charge of anything extremely important). In any case, this book is very cute and it got the point across that taking something that isn't ours is not only not nice, but also makes us feel bad inside, which I think is a much better way to go about it at an early age than the pure "it gets you into trouble" thing. Intrinsic vs Extrinsic motivation to do the right thing!

This is a great book for preschool- and school-aged children just learning the value of truth. My four-year-old son is learning the concept of lies vs. truth, and this book really hit home with him. When Ruthie tells a lie so she can keep something that isn't really hers, she feels horribly guilty about it all night long. The next day, she is terrified to confront her teacher and classmate, but she finds the courage to do it anyway, and instantly feels better about it. My boy really "gets" the moral of the story, and is going through that phase where he starts pointing out truths and lies. He's even made a point of putting it into action, knowing full well certain privledges may disappear when he admits to naughtiness, but also knowing it's the right thing to do and that he, like Ruthie, will feel better about it. The beautiful illustrations and simple story combine to create a very excellent children's book.

I expected it to be good and to help our little one to learn that fibbing is not okay. I didn't expect a highly relatable story, beautiful illustrations and an exploration of the inner emotions involved. My girls request this book often. A serious upgrade over the Boy Who Cried Wolf.

My 4 year old son absolutely adores this book. He reads it at least once a day and his new way to tell us he's hungry is saying "my stomach is flip-flopping!" (Ruthie's stomach does flip-flops after she tells a lie.) The illustrations are very cute and I love the foxes especially.For a very long time though, my son didn't "get" that Ruthie was telling a lie about the camera being hers. He felt that, "she found it, it's hers." He's on the autism spectrum and ridiculously literal, so we had a hard time explaining that no, the camera was Martin's and Ruthie lied about it because she wanted to keep it. Normal kids might understand this concept, but my son didn't. It took a few weeks of consistently explaining for him to "get" it. (And I'm not sure he really does yet.)It's not going to win any awards, but it's not the worst children's book I've ever read. And it's pretty solidly written.

My 4 year old daughter loves this book. It tells the sweetest story about being honest. I will buy more from this author.

I really like this story. It makes it easy to begin a discussion on truth vs. lying and shows the unpleasant, self-inflicted feelings and consequences of trying to cover up the truth. Ruthie learns that as much as she may like something that doesn't belong to her, taking it and arguing that it belongs to her does not make her happy.

A good lesson on telling the truth. My kids want to read this often - and often talk about what they’ve learned from it. Let’s hope it sticks!

I bought this a few weeks ago when I found out my son had been lying about something that happened at school. It's a great way to show children that they're not going to get into trouble if they own up to something, and probably a lot more effective than just lecturing them!

This book has really helped him understand the difference between the truth and a lie or white lie. And he's not afraid to say the truth no matter what (not that he lied to begin with - but even the urge to say 'I washed my hands with soap' when he's actually just washed it with water) -

Even though this book has spelling errors, from Bloomsbury, it is a cute little story about the honesty in someone and how you won't feel happy until you have set things right. the Scholastic version is my daughters favourite!

A mí hija le encanta y a mí me ha hecho saltar las lágrimas. Es bellísimo y muy bien escrito. He comprado unos 30 libros este mes y éste es mi favorito.