Introducing Little Miss Hot Mess and Little Miss Overshare, the stars of Dan Zevin’s new books

Dan Zevin’s latest four books, which are disguised as cute, wallet-sized paperbacks for kids, are anything but childish. Meant to be a fun-house mirror to classic children’s books written by Roger Hargreaves back in the 70s and 80s (remember Mr. Strong, Mr. Greedy and Little Miss Bossy?), Zevin has taken a biting, comedic and thoroughly modern stab at the original series. The illustrations in Zevin’s books are just as adorable as Hargreaves’ but the content is world’s apart from the pages of the past.

In fact, the first couple of pages of Little Miss Basic—a story that features a main character (Miss Basic) obsessed with “UGH” (his spelling) boots, pumpkin spiced lattes and juice cleanses—is a biting commentary on the common caricatures and figures our generation has created (and/or inspired). In Little Miss Overshare, Zevin slices the TMI crowd with the cutest of cartoons (illustrated by Dylan Klymenko), revealing a protagonist that tells everyone she meets about her OCD and her father’s alcoholism. Perhaps the sharpest writing comes from Zevin’s Mr. Selfie book, where he outlines a guy who spends his days Vine-ing his six-packed body doing upside down kettlebell swings.

The good news is, Zevin’s books are selling so well that he is launching a few more mini stories about characters that define the zeitgeist (rumoured to be out before the end of March). Look out for Little Miss Hot Mess, Little Miss Passive Aggressive, Mr. Emotionally Unavailable and the Kanye West-inspired, Mr. Baller.

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Little miss basic

Little Miss Basic by Dan Zevin