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When I Was Nine
James Stevenson remembers his family life during his ninth year, particularly a summer car trip through several states in the West.
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
32 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1986
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About the author
James Stevenson
299 books46 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads databse.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 15, 2024
James Stevenson was a prolific author and illustrator of children’s literature, producing over 100 books for the young. When I Was Nine is a lovely autobiographical work, full of memories and gentle humour. The text is accompanied by muted, impressionistic watercolour paintings, which seem to amplify the reader’s sense that the events and details presented are from long ago. A lot of the illustrations suggest movement, but interestingly, the faces of characters are blank and blurred—eyes nose and mouth are absent, as though the memory of some details is receding.
Stevenson’s recollections made me think of my own childhood, and I think they’d have the same effect on other readers. (I really think this book is best suited for older children, teens, and adults, who have an actual childhood to reflect upon.) Yes, faces may be blank, but the book is rich in precise sensory images. Stevenson recalls knowing exactly where all the bumps in the sidewalk were when he rode his bike and how, when skating on a pond in winter, he heard “the ice . . . crack with a tremendous booming noise.” He remembers locomotives, freight, and express trains, their whistles blowing “as they went racketing by in the dark.” I have similar memories of trains from my stays with country cousins and my maternal grandmother in the city. (There were tracks and a railway bridge behind her house, and you could watch trains go by from the upstairs back bedroom window.)
Some of Stevenson’s observations made me laugh. “No teacher was ever able to teach me arithmetic,” he writes. Then there is the treatment he received as the younger kid: “Bill, who lived next door, was my best friend. He was ten [a year older than the author]. Bill was pretty good fun but only about half the time.” On the next page he recalls: “When my brother had a friend over, they wouldn’t let me play.”
Among the events the author describes are his production of a weekly neighbourhood newspaper using a “hektograph” (a gelatinous duplicator that used special inks), summer visits with his grandmother at her house near the beach, and a family car trip to a New Mexico ranch.
For a short work, a lot is packed in. Published in 1986, but referring to a childhood in the 1930s, the picture book also has historical significance. We see an illustration of an old-fashioned telephone and are told that after school the author listened to the radio as he did his homework. There was no television back then. Stevenson’s dad had been in the army in the First World War. He’d kept his boots and bugle and sometimes played taps for his sons.
I used this book as an introduction to a memoir writing unit with junior-high kids some years back. It was well received, prompting many students to share memories of their own fairly recent childhoods.
It’s still relevant, and I recommend it.
Stevenson’s recollections made me think of my own childhood, and I think they’d have the same effect on other readers. (I really think this book is best suited for older children, teens, and adults, who have an actual childhood to reflect upon.) Yes, faces may be blank, but the book is rich in precise sensory images. Stevenson recalls knowing exactly where all the bumps in the sidewalk were when he rode his bike and how, when skating on a pond in winter, he heard “the ice . . . crack with a tremendous booming noise.” He remembers locomotives, freight, and express trains, their whistles blowing “as they went racketing by in the dark.” I have similar memories of trains from my stays with country cousins and my maternal grandmother in the city. (There were tracks and a railway bridge behind her house, and you could watch trains go by from the upstairs back bedroom window.)
Some of Stevenson’s observations made me laugh. “No teacher was ever able to teach me arithmetic,” he writes. Then there is the treatment he received as the younger kid: “Bill, who lived next door, was my best friend. He was ten [a year older than the author]. Bill was pretty good fun but only about half the time.” On the next page he recalls: “When my brother had a friend over, they wouldn’t let me play.”
Among the events the author describes are his production of a weekly neighbourhood newspaper using a “hektograph” (a gelatinous duplicator that used special inks), summer visits with his grandmother at her house near the beach, and a family car trip to a New Mexico ranch.
For a short work, a lot is packed in. Published in 1986, but referring to a childhood in the 1930s, the picture book also has historical significance. We see an illustration of an old-fashioned telephone and are told that after school the author listened to the radio as he did his homework. There was no television back then. Stevenson’s dad had been in the army in the First World War. He’d kept his boots and bugle and sometimes played taps for his sons.
I used this book as an introduction to a memoir writing unit with junior-high kids some years back. It was well received, prompting many students to share memories of their own fairly recent childhoods.
It’s still relevant, and I recommend it.
March 26, 2014
This story is about James Stevenson going back into the past. It takes us all the way back to when he was nine and tells us about a family trip he took. Him and his family took a car ride out west.
Throughout this trip they go through many different states and he describes specific things that he sees. This book is a good picture book biography that can show students past tense. After reading this story to a classroom you can have the students think of something in their past that they can write about. Then you can have them share the story with the classroom and ask them why they chose that. This story is good for ages 8-12. In order to understand things that are past tense and write about it correctly you should first read an autobiography about someone else. This book is a great book to help students see how to write in the past tense.
Throughout this trip they go through many different states and he describes specific things that he sees. This book is a good picture book biography that can show students past tense. After reading this story to a classroom you can have the students think of something in their past that they can write about. Then you can have them share the story with the classroom and ask them why they chose that. This story is good for ages 8-12. In order to understand things that are past tense and write about it correctly you should first read an autobiography about someone else. This book is a great book to help students see how to write in the past tense.
October 30, 2013
it soooooooooo good !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 3, 2013
This book is about a guy revisiting his past, so needless to say, I would use this in my classroom to help with past-tense verbs.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews