When I Grow Up
Published By: Tulika
Story: Annie Besant
Illustrations: Anushree Bhat
Though Appu was angry, he still wanted to be somebody.
In a Sentence: Little ones trying to make sense of a grown-up’s world through their eyes.
What is it About: This slice-of-life book is about the oft-played and endearing (and profound!) when-I-grow-up sessions (or diary entries) that children indulge in. And, as with every other milestone in a child’s life that comes with learning new things, that moment when it dawns upon you that you grow up to be someone or something is always a special one. It brings on a world full of possibilities in a child and opens the mind to dreaming of a future – in its own gently paced, uncomplicated way, this book captures it well.
I’m not dwelling too much upon the key attraction of the book – the jumbled up catch phrases that little Appu concocts for what he believes would be the best thing to ‘be’ when he’s as old as his Appa and Amma (for example, a pironaut = a pirate + an astronaut: one who sails on the seas of the moon!).
For any child, to try and look beyond the here-and-now of her existence into something that is way more distant than her next evening’s football plan with her friend is a near impossible task. Yet, kids of all sizes LOVE to fuss over their supposed choices, don’t they?! But there’s always more to it than meets the eye – if you listen to them well, you will be able to tell the various influences in a child’s life at that point in time. Because each of what they wish to be – much like Appu in this book – comes from their understanding of the immediate world around them – books they have read, stories they have heard, their knowledge of what parents do when they ‘work’, activities they enjoy at school or at home, or people they have come in contact with.
Both Annie and Anushree have succeeded in keeping the treatment simple and relatable to a child. The no-fuss story and the illustrations keep a reader’s mind focused on Appu and Lola.
What makes it snuggly: Its unpretentiousness, in that the book does exactly what it sets out to achieve – to unlock the unbound imagination in a young mind about how he or she would like her future to be.
Each time Appu cooks up a cherished vocation, his best friend Lola is there to knock him off his flight of fancy with some sound reasoning to boot! It makes you smile, the way the two argue, fight, and then come back together to the one comforting constant that gives them happiness now, and therefore they are sure it will in future too when they grow up – each other. I like the note on which it ends. That being a friend to someone is just as important as being a this or a that!
Will be best enjoyed by: 2+
From snuggly to snugglier: The possibilities are endless here, and indeed, the readers will have hours and hours of fun coming up with their own vocations.
I think this book can also be a good starting point for a conversation with your child on how a stay-at-home mom would like herself to be seen and understood by her child. Is ‘being something’ and ‘working’ when one grows up only about having a profession/ being employed?
Love Ratings? (on 5)
Ha Ha! Quotient: 3
Touches the heart: 3
Cuts through the clutter: 3
Visual appeal: 3
Encore Quotient: 4
Thank God it’s not moral science: 4
Show, don’t tell: 3
Hey, this is a really important book!: 3
