The League of Littles

Gr 3-6–Lexi, Mo, and Eli are training to be agents for the League of Littles, an international organization that defends youngest siblings—or “littles”—against the bullying, arrogance, and tyranny of older siblings. For their first mission, they are tasked with helping Gabi, a “little” who has lost her older sister’s pet hamster Chester after bringing him to school for show-and-tell. Lexi, Mo, and Eli must use their unique skills of crafting, strategy, and acrobatics to capture Chester and return him to Gabi. However, they do not know that Chester is secretly working with the Band of Bigs, an organization built to support oldest siblings. All groups of siblings (youngest, oldest, middle, and only children) are represented throughout the story. Lyall and Faber weave humor into a lighthearted school spy story, and readers will connect with the depictions of different siblings throughout the book. Despite its comedic elements, the story’s plot adheres to a standard spy novel structure. The cast of characters is diverse, although specific race and ethnicity remains ambiguous and is based on the visual cues from the art. The art is bright, colorful, and detailed, and readers will find humor in the illustrations as well as the overall story.