Some things never change (When I Was Little Like You - Jill Paton Walsh)

Member Name: juicy_lucy

Product:	When I Was Little Like You - Jill Paton Walsh
Date:	19/11/06 (123 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Simple book

Disadvantages: Maybe too simple for older children

When I was Little like you

A very sweet book, focusing on the differences and similarities between things in the past and things today, and the relationship between a grandma and grandchild.

~~Story and Illustrations~~

The story starts with Rosie pointing and showing gran the train, and as they sit watching the train travelling through the countryside, the next double page spread shows a steam engine and gran as a little girl; the train is described, and so children begin to learn that trains were different.

They then see an ice cream van, and gran describes the man on the bicycle who sold ice cream when she was a little girl. We are then told of the differences between the fishmonger today and in yesteryear, and the boats, as well as the sweet shop. When gran and Rosie see the surfers, Gran tells Rosie that when she was young, people didn’t know how to do that, but simply paddled in the water.

They do find one thing which is the same today as it was when Gran was young- the lighthouse, and the two separate pages show the lighthouse as almost timeless.

Right at the end of the book, Rosie looks at her Gran and asks if the world was a better place when she was a little girl. This is the bit we like, because Gran turns to Rosie and tells her that the world is far more fun now because Rosie is in it. Ahh!! Sweet! Little Miss loves that bit and tells me that’s how her grandma feels.

The illustrations are all double page spread with the text in the corner. They are kind of muted watercolours, showing idyllic country and seaside, so all very soothing.

~~Other books by the same author~~

She has written several books including When Grandma Came and Connie Came To Play for young children. For older children, her list of books is quite extensive including Thomas and The Tinners, Fireweed and The Dolphin Crossing.

Many of her books have won various prizes, and the books are those which are well known although the author doesn’t seem to spring to mind.

~~Other bits of information~~

Published: 1997 by Viking, London

Illustrated by: Stephen Lambert

ISBN: 0-670-86799-3

~~What I think of the book~~

This is a real “feel good” book; simple to read and understand with lovely pictures. A great bedtime read. The differences between things in days gone by and today are simply explained and illustrated and it’s interesting to let young children look at the pictures and find the differences for themselves.

We read it when we were involved in a theme about the seaside and even young children can appreciate that some things, like the lighthouse don’t change very much over time. A trip to the sea side is good to prove the point.

It’s a short book, with a small amount of quite repetitive text on one side of a double page spread. This makes it easier for young children to predict what’s coming next…they realise that there will be something about today and then some information about the past. This gives them a chance to have a go at trying to decide what things have changed, and they can compare what is said in the book with archive photos.

This can be read to very young children- in fact, older children probably won’t appreciate it very much.

All in all, a recommended book.

Thanks for reading.

Daniela xx

Summary: A feel good book showing changes over time