When I Was Little

by Toyomi Igus, Higgins Bond (Illustrator)

Noel learns what it was like to grow up in the country without television, telephones, or cars, when his grandfather tells him stories of his own youth many years ago

Genres: Picture Books, Family

1 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Toyomi Igus has had a rich and varied writing and communications career. Born Toyomi Lynn Gibson in Iowa City, Iowa, the first child of four from her African American father and Japanese mother, she grew up in Buffalo, New York, and went on to college at Barnard College, Columbia University. After college Igus dove into consumer and trade magazine publishing as an acquiring editor and managing editor, and then on into academic book publishing, revamping and managing the publications unit of the Center for African American Studies at UCLA. Under her editorship, the press produced several books on the African diaspora, including Wilfred Cartey’s Whispers from the Caribbean, Trevor Purcells’ Banana Fallout: Class, Color and Culture Among West Indians in Costa Rica, and the final volume of St. Clair Drake’s Black Folk Here and There. While at UCLA, Igus co-wrote, edited and curated Life in a Day of Black L.A., a collection of photographs of contemporary African-American life by Southern Californian black photographers, a traveling exhibition and book.

Igus published her first children’s book in 1991. To date she has authored six children books, including When I Was Little and Great Women in the Struggle (Just Us Books); Going Back Home (Childrens’ Book Press), winner of the American Book Award and the Skipping Stones Honor, and I See the Rhythm (Childrens’ Book Press), winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, Multicultural Children�s Book Award, and the Jane Addams Picture Book Award, and her very personal Two Mrs. Gibsons (Childrens’ Book Press), which remains on educational recommended book lists around the country.

Reviews

[Faloni © · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwarming pages filled with hugs, laughter, and love 🥰📖—perfect for cherishing family moments! ❤️👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

[Sydney Funk · Rating 3 out of 5]

• Noel loves visiting his Grandpa Will. His favorite thing to do with him is to go fishing and hear his stories. Grandpa Will tells Noel about life when he was little. He tells about everything from shopping for ice to his first ride in an automobile. Noel loves hearing these stories from his grandpa.
• 1-3rd grade
• This could be used in an English or history class.
• Individual students that might benefit from this book include students like Noel who enjoy hearing stories about what life was like long ago.
• Groups could use this in a literature circle. Students would read the book then discuss what life was like then vs now. They would create a vinn diagram with differences between Grandpa Will’s childhood and Noel’s childhood.
• After reading the book the class witll discuss what they think they will tell their grandchildren like Grandpa Will did. What do you think you grandchildren will not have to do that you have to do now?
• Other books like this include Two Mrs. Gibson also by Toyomi Igus
• This book is available through amazon and as an eBook.

[Ammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daddy read this to the girls and I and really enjoyed it.

[Ewa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author does a wonderful job in depicting the importance of oral history and how children form their identities with the help of their grandparents. Noel learns about the life that Grandpa Will lived without video games and refrigerators. Through oral history Noel is taken to another world and tries to imagine what it would have been like back then and asks his grandpa inquiring questions to further apprehend his childhood reality. Illustrations switch from being vibrantly colored to black and white to differentiate the present and past.

[Jennesy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I Was Little is a great book to compare and contrast the past to the present. Grandpa Will is telling his grandson, Noel, about how things were when he was a boy and how things have changed now. Noel is picturing how he would survive back in his grandpa's days and he thinks he could survive without stereo, TV, cars, telephone, etc. This would be great for a writing prompt.

[Garrett Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two of my favorite things in one book... A book with a cultural background and .......fishing! This book also tackles how your students will be influenced by different things as they grow up and would be a good acceptance book to show how not all students have had the same experiences!

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A grandfather explains how things were different when he was his grandsons age. Illustrations change from color to black and white to show past vs. present

Uses: Change over time

[Srinidhi.R Srinidhi.R · Rating 5 out of 5]

most beautifully told picture book I ever read!!!!