Ask the Author: Aimee Reid
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Aimee Reid
My newest book, Mama's Day with Little Gray, was inspired by my daughter's words one bedtime when she was about 2-1/2 years old. After I had tucked her in, she said, "When I grow up and you grow down . . . ." She went on to talk about all of the fun we would have if our roles were reversed.
These words became the inspiration for those of Little Gray, the young elephant in the book. He dreams of trading places with his mother. What would life be like, he wonders, if he were the big elephant and his mama were the small one?
Each act of the day--eating, swimming, playing in the mud--becomes an opportunity for Little Gray to share his imaginings and for his mama to affirm his competence.
It is special to me that the premise for this book emerged from my daughter's words about growing up and growing down. I had known for a while that young children have a fluid sense of the aging process and that they often dreamed of trading places with an older loved one. It's been lovely to hear from readers about their own experiences of this sort of pretend play with young children in their care.
These words became the inspiration for those of Little Gray, the young elephant in the book. He dreams of trading places with his mother. What would life be like, he wonders, if he were the big elephant and his mama were the small one?
Each act of the day--eating, swimming, playing in the mud--becomes an opportunity for Little Gray to share his imaginings and for his mama to affirm his competence.
It is special to me that the premise for this book emerged from my daughter's words about growing up and growing down. I had known for a while that young children have a fluid sense of the aging process and that they often dreamed of trading places with an older loved one. It's been lovely to hear from readers about their own experiences of this sort of pretend play with young children in their care.
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