Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this sweet and cozy book is a conversation-starter with preschoolers about that crazy idea that you were young once, too.
Parents can share their own childhood memories. Where are those old photo albums? What books and games did you read and play that your kids also like today? What kind of trouble did you get into?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Dawn Friedman
Kids love to hear all about the "olden days" when their parents were growing up. It's hard to believe that these super-capable people (who can wrap gifts, flip pancakes, and tie shoes with absolute ease) were ever struggling kids! That's why it's such a comfort to hear, "I know just how you're feeling because I felt that way, too!"
This book captures the cozy feeling of listening to a parent share their childhood stories -- from the times they got into trouble or behaved less than perfectly to the games they loved to play. What a pleasure it is to know that parents really do understand why siblings argue and why it's so hard to be quiet when mom is on the phone.
An added bonus? Kids will get the picture that parents are people with their own likes and dislikes, even if they're too busy with grocery lists and bills to always indulge their interests. There's a pay-off at the end of the book, too. Katie's mother was not always Katie's mother, but she was always -- she says -- dreaming of a little girl named Katie. Smallest kids may not quite get that the mom in the story is not the same as the mom who might be reading the story (this reviewer's own daughter is 2-and-a-half and she found the book a little confusing that way), but older kids will likely be inspired to cuddle up and ask their parents about their own best memories.Pham's adept watercolors use soft-brown tones to lend a sepia tint to the mother's memories, making it easy for readers to recognize what is a present-day picture and what isn't. The people have vibrant expressions and there are cozy details in the scattered drawings across a little girl's bedroom floor and in the pencils tucked behind a busy mother's ear.From The Book
Once I had legs that didn't reach the floor. I sat on a stool at the kitchen counter and ate my mother's sweet treats. She knew how to suspend fruit in Jell-O. I thought it was magic.
Plot Summary:
Katie's mother wasn't always a grown-up who wears comfortable shoes and knows how to cook and fix things. Once she was a little girl just like Katie and she loved fancy shoes, dancing on trash can lids, and eating frosting roses.
Related Books:
More Books for Those Cozy Parent/Child Moments:
I Like to Be Little by Charlotte Zolotow
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam Mcbratney
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
Fun Web Sites:
The Illustrator
The Author
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