The Growing Story - Hardcover

Krauss, Ruth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007233329 ISBN 13: 9780007233328

Publisher: Harper Collins Childrens Books, 2007

Synopsis

A classically beautiful picture book from Helen Oxenbury and Ruth Krauss. Share the universal experience of growing up and discover the rhythms of the seasons in this wonderfully timeless story. A little boy, some chicks and a puppy live on a farm. They see the first signs of spring growing in the fields and the little boy asks his mother if he and the puppy will grow too. Of course you will, she assures him, and as spring turns to summer he sees his dog growing taller and the chicks become chickens. But as the seasons change and everything grows around him, the little boy feels like he has stayed the same. Can he really be growing too? This charming story will enchant younger readers and is perfect for sharing aloud. Beautifully presented as an illustrated hardback, it will make the perfect gift for all little children wondering if they're growing too.

About this title

About the Author:

Ruth Krauss, a member of the experimental Writer's Laboratory at the Bank Street School in New York City in the 1940s, imaginatively used humour and invented words to create some of the very first books for children that highlighted the child's inner life. She collaborated with some of the greatest illustrators in children's literature, including Maurice Sendak, who described her as a 'giant' in children's literature, and her husband, Crockett Johnson. Helen Oxenbury grew up in Ipswich, England, and has always loved nothing more than drawing. She studied costume design and then worked on stage sets for theatre, film and TV. After marrying John Burningham, another eminent illustrator, she began illustrating children's books and has gone on to win several prestigious awards and wide-spread critical acclaim for her work.

From Booklist:

*Starred Review* In the original, 1947 edition of Krauss' classic story, Phyllis Rowand's illustrations featured a small boy, dressed in checked pants, a red jacket, and a jaunty cap, who wonders if he is getting bigger. Now, Oxenbury lightens and brightens the palette and sets the boy against pages of inviting white space that open the story. In late spring, the boy, his puppy, and some baby chicks are "very little." As the days grow longer and the grass grows faster, the boy informs the animals, "We're growing too." Together he and his mother put away his winter clothes, forgotten as spring stretches into summer and summer shortens into fall. The boy asks more than once if he is growing, even as he can see his puppy is now a dog, the chicks have now become chickens. Winter approaches, and it's time to take down the warm clothes. To the child's delight, his pants are too tight, his sleeves are too short. Finally, he has visible proof. "I'm growing too," he shouts as he does handstands across the final spread. The story gets right to a child's experiences as it expresses both wondering and wonderment. This comes out beautifully in art that captures the affection between a boy and his hardworking mother who makes a bountiful place of the land they farm. Ebullient. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Collins Childrens Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0007233329
• ISBN 13: 9780007233328
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Oxenbury Helen