This is a sweet and insightful yet hopeful book about an obese little girl who sets out to lose weight with her plus-size teacher. The cherubic cheeks and expressive eyes of little Nikki immediately draws you in, makes you want to love her like a cuddly teddy bear. But it is those same characteristics that make my throat tighten with tears as she describes eating away her pain when a classmate makes fun of her. As a plus-size woman, I feel little Nikki's pain and understand her struggle. I want to hug her and tell her that she'll be okay, but the truth is that she does need to lose weight and eat healthier. This book says it gently and directly without preachiness. ( )

Nikki eats when she is hungry, sad, or lonesome. When her teacher begins losing weight, Nikki joins her in becoming healthier and letting go of her dependence on food.

Nikki is a young girl who eats to deal with her emotions and is enabled by her mother to do so. This causes her to be heavier than the other children at her school and a target for bullying by one of her classmates. When Nikki's teacher, who is also overweight, begins a healthy lifestyle, Nikki decides that she wants to live healthier too. By convincing her mom that they need to live healthier lives, the three of them walk together every morning and eat only when they are hungry and overall become healthier people.

Weight is always a delicate issue to discuss and I think this book does a good job of discussing it. I liked that it highlighted reasons people might overeat and showed that there are healthier ways to cope with our emotions. I think this book would be beneficial when introducing health and nutrition. The book also doesn't make Nikki into a victim for being heavier; she always has something sassy to say back to the boy who bullies her and shows she is not weak because of her weight. Overall, I enjoyed this book. ( )

Nikki doesn't want to be teased for her weight, but the food always makes her feel better whenever she is sad or gets teased at school. Nikki has a new teacher that is also guilty of sneaking food in class from time to time. Later in the year though, Nikki notices that her teacher has lost weight. When she asks her teacher about it, Ms. Patterson explains her new diet and exercise routine. Nikki soon begins walking around the school every morning with her teacher, and eventually walks with her mother on the weekends too. Nikki finds a new sense of determination to live a healthier lifestyle filled interesting things to do.
I like that this book is filled with mostly positive characters. I like that Nikki has supporting friends and a good role model at school. I think that this book would encourage children to find their own role model to walk with or get more active in general. I also like that this book doesn't shame Nikki for being bigger, but rather encourages the character to pick healthy habits. The book provides a good message for kids overall! ( )

In this story a little girl gets hungry all the time. She has two good friends but is teased by a boy in her class. When she sees the changes her overweight teacher is making she is motivated to do something about her own weight.