When I Was Small

by Sara O'Leary

Curious little Henry from the award-winning books When You Were Small and Where You Came From has a new question for his mother in this charming new picture book. “What was it like when you were small?” he asks. His mother proceeds to describe her adventures to him, all about when she was little – very little!
 

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Family, Fantasy, Art, Canada

40 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 2011

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

An equally adorable follow-up/spin-off to When You Were Small, with the same nostalgic sketchy drawing feel to it, sweetness and bright humor and imaginative ideas on every page. "In stories we can be small together." SUCH a sweet book.

Okay. Maybe I particularly needed this book after reading all these angsty, BeavisandButthead-humored cynical alt-comics. Okay, I'll admit that. But hey, I really did like Julie Morstad's drawing and all the lovely play in O'Leary's text. Kind of encourages me to be that silly with my own kids. Invent your past, sure! When I was small. . . How small, Dad? When I was small I danced with Thumbelina! I wrote on a butterfly! I lived in an acorn shell!

[N · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I need a new bookshelf labeled "precious" to catagorize this under.

[KC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightfully illustrated.

[Laura Cockburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most charming books I've read in a long time. The text is simple but very evocative. It begins with a boy asking his mother to tell him about when she was small. Instead of the typical stories, she then tells him about all the things she did when she was the size of a doll (sleep in a mitten, swim in a birdbath, etc...). It is the kind of thing children may imagine when they think of their parents being "small." There is not much text on each page and it makes the book simple to read.

However, it is the illustrations that really make the book as wonderful as it is. They are old fashioned looking and may make readers think that the book is much older than it actually is. It helps give the book a nostalgic mood. The mother looks sweet and adorable. The pictures go well with the text they are paired with. It is not surprising that this book won the 2012 Christie Harris Illusrated Children's Prize and won third prize in the Alcuin Society Book Design Awards in 2012.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little boy asks his mother to tell him a story about when she was small. Mother has a little fun, purposefully misunderstanding him and instead of telling him tales of her childhood tells him of extraordinary imaginary adventures she had when she was a tiny person.

This is a great book to use when talking about word play in literature. I can just picture parents making up adventures about a tiny version of themselves for a child. Maybe it was a joke the first time, and then it becomes their "thing." I'm not sure how this will appeal for a child audience. It'll work well for older audiences learning about word play, but will little ones like this? Maybe. There's just dabs of color and the illustrations look a bit old fashioned. But maybe they'll be just as enchanted thinking 'What if my mom were tiny? What adventures would she have had?'

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry asks his parents what they were like when they were small. The book starts out normally enough with his mother explaining that she was called Dot because her full name, Dorothea, was too big for her. But then things get creative! Dot was so small she wore the same shoes as her doll. She swam in the birdbath. She jumped rope with a piece of yarn. Her bed was a mitten. Her father built her a doll house, and she lived in it. At the end of this story from his mother, the two of them agree that one of the reasons that his mother looked forward to growing up was to share stories with a child of her own.

Read the rest of my review on my blog, Waking Brain Cells.

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute and sweet, but not much of a story. For the younger kids, it'll be nice to discuss that the mom is talking about a fantastical situation -- she obviously wasn't really that silly small. (I have inexplicably written silly in the place of two other s-words tonight. I am clearly tired.) The book reminds me of Marcel the Shell with Shoes on a bit -- all those little vignettes of using familiar objects as other familiar objects because of being so tiny. It's not funny, but it is very sweet, and I like the look of the book.

[Kelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Age: Preschool-Kindergarten
Family: Mom & daughter

Ugh, was that repetition boring and annoying. I kept waiting for it to change just a little bit. However, this would be a cute way for a parent and child to laugh about the concept of "when I was small" as a literal interpretation. Unfortunately, the repetition is more suited for a toddler age and the humor is more suited for an older age.

It would also be fun to pair an activity such as drawing what you could do if you were teeny tiny.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Henry from "When You Were Small" asks his mother about what she was like when SHE was small. Another collection of cute "small" stories. As cute and fun as this book is, it didn't charm me quite as much as "When You Were Small."

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely lovely illustrations and an adorable twist on "when I was small." I don't know if the author has a small child, to whom she tells stories, but the book makes me think she does, and that's a sign of a great book for kids.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

a boy asks his mother to tell him all about when she was small. Not your typical back in my day book. This was cute and catchy and the things the mothers says about being small are actually about being small not about being older.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little boy asks his mother to tell him about when she was small, like he is now. As she is describing when she was small, the boy's imagination creates interesting images.

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I missed something in reading this one....

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the illustrations!

[Danica Midlil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very nostalgic.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet story and adorable illustrations!

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story and I love the vintage looking illustrations. There are a few I would tear out, frame and hang on my wall...if it wasn't a library book of course:)

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So adorable it hurts. So sweet I cried.
Don't know if kids would like it, but I LOVE it! :)

[Nanor & Co. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute!! Loved it!

[Maren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julie Morstad is my new favorite illustrator.

Sara O'Leary makes adorable stories as well. Both my 4-year-old and I were humored by this book.

[aubrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

10 STARS

[Ebster Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its not usually the moms who tell their kids tall tales.

This one was really cute and if I had a kid I would buy it.

[Annalee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminds me of the weird stories I used to tell when I was a kid, about when people I knew were animals, etc. Nice illustrations. Very short.

[Carrie Gelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want a daisy for a sunhat :-)

[Sunil Jawahir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Great illustrations and a truly sweet mother and son story.

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and a cute story.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

An imaginative way to answer a child's question. Sarah has a way of taking simple things and sparking them with the imagination of a child. Charming.

[hhhhhhhhh · Rating 4 out of 5]

refreshing to read a new picture book with old-fashioned art, whimsy, and a tall tale. reminds me that all these morals and emotional lessons don't necessarily spark wonder.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything here invites one in. My preschooler's wrote wild poems imagining themselves as small (meaning both "younger" and "tinier"), and we got to talk about what the word "feast" means.