As the flowers around us continue to burst into bloom and we get closer to the day we see our first fawn of the season (when they’re still just cute and not annoying because they gobble up our gardens), we can take a moment to appreciate how much everything around us grows.
It can be beautiful, but it can also be alarming, especially when our children start to overtake us in height. In this edition, I’ll focus on books that showcase growth, whether it’s plants growing, our kids’ minds growing or their bodies being just the right size for now.
The first book is 9 Little People by Regina Feldmann and illustrated by Martina Stuhlberger. This poem reminds me of all the friends I made at the parent and baby group I attended when I was a new mother, because it starts with nine little people still in their mothers’ bellies. Then it follows them as they grow out of the newborn stage, through toddlerhood and into young children. The pictures that go with the poem are absolutely stunning. They conjure a cozy, happy, warm, fun feeling while showcasing the diversity of race and ability that we see in our neighbourhoods. For ages 4 to 8.
While our children always seem to grow much faster than we were expecting, sometimes they are still shorter than other children their age. And while that’s not a problem, it can cause some unique challenges. If your child is in that position, they will definitely understand how Dot feels in Not Little by Maya Myers and illustrated by Hyewon Yum. Dot is the smallest person in her family, and because she is small, people always think she is less capable of doing things. But, while Dot is small, she is not little. When a new kid, who’s even smaller than she is, gets into trouble with the mean boy, Dot must decide just how big she is. For ages 4 to 8.
Even kids who aren’t the smallest one in their family or class can fear things. Sometimes when their fears get to them, they can make big mistakes, which often makes the whole situation seem even worse. If your child has ever experienced that, Yuri knows how they feel. In Mayhem at the Museum which is written and illustrated by Hannah Brückner and translated from German by Laura Watkinson, Yuri’s fear of birds catches them off-guard, and they fall into the dinosaur display. It’s “the kind of catastrophe that ALWAYS happens when ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE is looking,” and Yuri is understandably embarrassed, stressed and scared of the attention and the disaster. Mayhem at the Museum showcases a few important parts of growing up: learning how to cope with stress and learning how to fix your mistakes. For ages 4 to 8.
Millie also learns how to manage stress in Millie and the Midnight Hedgehog by Bernadette Watts. Unlike Yuri, who is stressed because of a mistake they made, Millie is stressed by everything going on in the world around her, specifically climate change and the decrease of butterflies and other animals. At first, she feels too small and scared to do anything, because it’s such a big problem. But, with a little encouragement from a hedgehog, Millie discovers small things that she can do in her own backyard to help the world and help herself feel at peace. For ages 4 to 8.
Finally, there is something that every person, plant and animal needs to grow: the sun. In her book Sun in My Tummy, which is illustrated by Andrea Blinick, Laura Alary shows us how we use the sun to survive. Sometimes the process is direct, like a plant using photosynthesis, and other times the process is indirect, like when we eat the plants. But no matter how it happens, we all have a bit of sun in our bellies, and Blinick highlights that idea with her brilliant illustrations that evoke the sun’s warmth on every page. For ages 4 to 8.
I hope these five stories bring you joy and help you celebrate the growth you see around you. I also hope they inspire you and your children to accept your bodies for whatever size they may be, and help your kids learn new ways to cope with stress, no matter the cause.
