When I Was Small
Feeling dwarfed in a towering adult world is something all young children can relate to, and in this title, a small boy asks his mother to tell him about when she was small, too. She remembers when even her name, Dorothea, was too big for her. Her family called her Dot, and accompanying pictures show that she felt like a tiny little spot—in her class photo; sleeping in a mitten; with her best friend, a ladybug. The climax shows her now, with a small child of her own, tucking him into bed, and on the last page, she tells her son, “In stories we can be small together.” On each spread, the spare free-verse lines appear opposite the warm ink-and-watercolor cross-hatched illustrations of imaginative play, and kids will appreciate the theme of an adult brought down to size. A great companion to the family photo album. Preschool-Grade 2. --Hazel Rochman