When I Was A Child, Andy Stanton and David Litchfield

The kids loved David Litchfield’s illustrations in his books, The Bear and The Piano, and Grandad’s Secret Giant, hence I keep my eyes open for new works from him.  So to have him illustrating of the well known Andy Stanton was very exciting. The excitement and anticipation for When I Was A Child was high. 

The book shows a grandmother reminiscing with granddaughter about ‘the good old days’ and how magical, mysterious and wonderful they were. We see scenes of people soaring through the sky with elephants, of underwater castles, of outer space and wild grassy fields. The two then travel to the grandaughter’s time, a time where, the grandmother thinks, the magic has vanished. The granddaughter then takes over and shows her grandmother, and the reader, that the magic still exists.

I’ll be really honest. The first read was a tad disappointing. The illustrations were beautiful – perhaps even distracting – as I just didn’t get the poetic flow of the text. It felt stilted. I understood the intent, but just didn’t really get the rhythm or the cadence right.

It’s a good thing you can read books over and over again because while I was disappointed with the first read, with multiple reads this book really grew on me. In my opinion, the illustrations still overshadow the text – they are absolutely outstanding –  however, without the text, the illustrations would be stunning, but lacking in meaning.

It is another great one for grandparents and grandchildren to enjoy together. Grandparents can take the opportunity to talk with young ones about what life was really like for them growing up. And while to you it probably won’t feel as magical as the descriptions in When I Was A Child, to the kids it just might be.