Later, when I'm big

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Later, when I'm big

Title :

Later, when I'm big / Bette Westera ; [illustrated by] Mattias De Leeuw ; translated by Laura Watkinson.

Title:

Later, when I'm big

Varying Form of Title:

Later, when I am big

Author:

Westera, Bette

Format:

Books

Physical Description:

31 unnumbered pages : color illustrations ; 29 cm

ISBN:

9780802856104

Production / Publication Information:

Grand Rapids, Michigan : Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2023.

Summary:

As a child approaches the diving board at a pool, she dreams about all the amazing things she might do when she is older.

Target audience note:

Ages 4-8.

Language:

English

Added Author:

Leeuw, Mattias de, 1989-

Watkinson, Laura

Genre:

Picture books.

Subject Term:

Imagination -- Juvenile fiction.

Imagination -- Fiction.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library Children's Room	JE WES	31330009365333	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Burlington Public Library	E WESTER	32116004019887	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Hamilton-Wenham Public Library	JJ WES	30470002184264	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Ipswich Public Library	JE WESTERA	32122003085259	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Middleton - Flint Public Library	JJ WES	32126001920490	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newbury Town Library	JJ WES	32127001407850	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newburyport Public Library	J WE / PICTURE	32128004218237	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Rowley Public Library	E WES	32130001080214	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Tewksbury Public Library	JJ WES	32132003439190	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Topsfield Town Library	JJ WESTERA	32133002703081	Searching... Unknown

Summary

American Library Association Batchelder Honor Book (2024)

"Compelling artwork...stunning....Deftly captures a child's sense of wonder at the vastness of the world."-- Kirkus Reviews ( STARRED REVIEW)

"Whimsical illustrations...[a] springboard for imaginative flights." -- Booklist

"Gorgeous." -- Foreword Reviews

A playful, humorous look at being small but dreaming big.

As a child and her mother walk up to the swimming pool, she dreams about everything she'll do when she's older. Maybe she'll dance with jellyfish. Maybe she'll fly to Saturn in a space rocket. She could even play with the monster under her bed! But for now, she'll have to face that terrifyingly tall diving board...

With alliterative language and explosively colorful illustrations, When I'm Big is an amusing journey through all sorts of fantastical futures. As readers travel to tropical rainforests, the North Pole, and beyond, they will start to dream about what their tomorrows could bring.

Reviews (2)

Kirkus Review

A youngster imagines brave adventures that await in the future. Compelling artwork accompanies this simple story, translated from Dutch, about a child wondering at all that will be possible "Later, when I'm big." As the book opens, a light-skinned parent and child are seen heading to an indoor water park. The swimming pools slowly morph into the child's fantasies of the future--everything from sleeping in a haunted castle to "swinging on a trapeze, with a big drumroll and a shiny sequined suit." Scenes range from trips through fairy-tale forests to underwater adventures to the everyday, like jumping off a diving board. All of these reveries evoke the wonder of childhood, where a realistic challenge like "drinking cold soda, even if it tickles my throat," can exist on the same plane as flying to Saturn. The loose-lined, acrylic illustrations are stunning. One breathtaking, painterly scene shows the child galloping on horseback across a prairie, the gorgeous glow of desert and sunset a perfect blend. A bright spot of red--a scarf, bow, or ski suit--appears on the child on every page, a call back to the bathing suit in the opening, a way to identify them within their dream world. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Deftly captures a child's sense of wonder at the vastness of the world. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

A little girl's imagination transforms an indoor water park into a series of wild settings in which she stars in an action-packed future. At the story's start, the girl and her mother enter a water park that features gigantic plants, a big, curving yellow slide, a diving board, and a small pink-elephant slide whose trunk deposits kids into the kiddie pool. Before the little girl even gets to that slide, she's vowing that "later, when I'm big, I'll dare to do lots and lots of things." An instant scene change shows a jungle, complete with crocodile, and a gloomy-looking castle appearing in the water park. The whimsical illustrations, done in fluid acrylic paint, move the reader through increasingly fantastical landscapes that match the girl's promises to herself that she'll do things like swim to the bottom of the sea "without arm floaties," take a rocket ship to Saturn, explore an underground tunnel, and pat a polar bear. The girl's dauntless spirit shines through all her fantasies in this springboard for imaginative flights.

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Summary

Summary

Reviews (2)

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review