When I Was Little Like You - Softcover

Paton Walsh, Jill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140558292 ISBN 13: 9780140558296

Publisher: Penguin Uk, 1999

Synopsis

Through a reflection of past experiences, a grandmother lovingly explains to her granddaughter how things were different in the world when she was growing up.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

While on a seaside stroll with her grandmother, Rosie learns how things in her present-day environment compare with the olden days of Gran's time. Beginning each passage with the refrain, ``When I was little like you,'' Gran describes steam engines that ``puffed round the point'' and the ice cream that was peddled by a man on a bicycle. Fish was sold right from the dock while swimmers played catch-as-catch-can with the breakers. The simple then-and-now contrasts are ideal for sharing, inviting young listeners to ask questions of their own elders. One constant is the old lighthouse, which looks just the same on fine summer evenings past and present. Walsh provides a finale as sweet as the old-fashioned four-for-a-penny candy in glass jars, when Rosie asks Gran if she liked the world better back then. Gran replies, ``The world is more fun by far now it has you in it!'' Fuzzy-edged blocks of color form the shapes of uncluttered seascapes and cherubic, rosy-cheeked characters. Puffs of cottony clouds and ice cream, rounded hills, and gently pitched hat brims add to the amiable, pastoral feel of this saunter through summer memories. (Picture book. 2-4) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal:

PreSchool-Grade 2. A delightful story about times past, grandparents, and change. As Rosie and Gran take a stroll through their seaside village, Rosie points out a train, an ice-cream van, boats, a fish shop, a candy store, and surfers. Gran reminisces about how each of those sights was different, "When I was little like you." When they reach the old lighthouse, Gran confides how it looks just the same as when she played there. The two cozily settle in the sand and then she adds, "The world is more fun by far now it has you in it." Lambert's softly muted pastel watercolors depict both modern Rosie and a young Gran delighting in the wonders of daily life as the story shifts from generation to generation. The subtle changes from the present to past are carried out beautifully in the three-quarter and double-page spreads. While curriculum connections are obvious, this title deserves a space in picture-book collections not for how it can be used, but for what it is?a warm, "read it again" story.?Beth Tegart, Oneida City Schools, NY
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Uk
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0140558292
• ISBN 13: 9780140558296
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Lambert Stephen