March 15, 2023
A series of moments, mundane and meaningful, capture the wonder of a life well lived. Each spread in the book offers a set of opposites. A baby is "a small person in a big chair" awaiting "squishy oatmeal in a hard bowl." Three pages later, that baby is a child who greets their returning parents, feeling "a cold jacket on a warm face." Soon the little one becomes a student, a parent, and, finally, a grandparent. Salmieri's colored-pencil drawings reveal the constants that follow the protagonist as they age; plants, bluebirds, and a black dog all reappear throughout. Deeper connections are implied, too. A microscope gifted in childhood foreshadows a career in science, and the protagonist's future partner can be spotted in the background of the lab in which they work. This play between text and illustration will engage young readers, while the journey through familiar beats of life is sure to tug at caretakers' heartstrings. The protagonist has the same black hair and tan skin as one of their parents; their other parent has brown hair and skin a shade lighter. The protagonist's partner is lighter-skinned, and their grandchild is brown-skinned. Background characters are racially diverse but differ little in body type. (This book was reviewed digitally.) This meditation on the patterns of life shines with reminders of what we carry with us as we grow. (Picture book. 3-7)
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Starred review from April 17, 2023
Employing a quiet, unadorned narrative voice and softly burnished colored pencil illustrations, Salmieri (High Five) muses about how life is made up of paradoxes and opposites. “In a dark sky floats a blue planet,” the book begins, showing a swirling Earth against a starless expanse. Somewhere on that planet is a child: “a small person in a big chair” who eats “squishy oatmeal in a hard bowl.” Each page turn moves the maturing primary character, portrayed with black hair and tan skin, and always shown in a green shirt, further on in time. In closely observed, tableau-like spreads, the figure, whose “small head” has “vivid dreams of vast spaces,” becomes a school-age child, then a diligent college student and a scientist, then a doting parent (“squishy oatmeal in a hard bowl” appears for another child) and, eventually, a grandparent holding “an old photo in a new frame/... of a small person in a big chair.” This intergenerational portrait slowly suggests the way moments can provide anchors and recur—it’s a “whoa” kind of idea pitched at just the right level for the target audience. Illustrations portray people of varying skin tones within the family and across metropolitan scenes. Ages 4–7. Agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House.
June 1, 2023
Preschool-Grade 2 Using spare, lyrical language that emphasizes contrasts, Salmieri recounts small moments in the life of a girl growing from babyhood to adulthood and finally becoming a grandmother. ""In the home there's a small person in a big chair / And squishy oatmeal in a hard bowl,"" introduces a onesie-clad baby in a high chair; ""a loud concert in a quiet field"" details an activity as a teen; ""an old photo in a new frame / Shows a picture of a small person in a big chair"" reveals the white-haired woman holding her grandchild and a photo of herself at the same age. The colored-pencil artwork employs a full palette of mostly muted hues displayed on richly textured full-page spreads. The protagonist's clothing always includes green, which will help younger readers to follow her progress as she grows and matures. Additional illustrative details convey more subtle information: her lifelong interest in science, a favorite pet, and her partner. A satisfying look at a life well lived.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Starred review from July 1, 2023
Salmieri delivers a moving intergenerational story using opposites as its central conceit. Opening pages show a view of Earth from space, reading: "In the dark sky floats a bright planet." The page-turn zooms in on a seashore "where wet waves crash on a dry stretch of beach." Next, there's a city, whose characters are rendered in colored pencil with a sketchy, gestural style. These include "a small person in a big chair," the protagonist of the story. She is a toddler who appears Asian, with dark hair and peachy-tan skin. Salmieri wisely gives the character signature green clothing, a color symbolic of growth, so that readers can recognize her as she changes throughout the book, from child to teen to professional scientist and woman with a family of her own, all the while incorporating opposites that reflect her interests and experiences ("a loud concert in a quiet field...thick books made up on thin sheets of paper"). At the end, the green-clad woman, her dark hair now white, is shown with a baby in her lap, looking at "an old photo in a new frame / [that] Shows a picture of a small person in a big chair." It's an immensely satisfying, full-circle conclusion. Megan Dowd Lambert
(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
Starred review from October 6, 2023
K-Gr 2-Salmieri follows a woman's life, from her toddler years to her senior ones, as she holds her grandson on her knees, showing him a picture of her younger self about to eat oatmeal in a highchair. This ingeniously crafted story, told in the third person, begins with a striking black Earth's surface background, denoting celestial movement while highlighting this planet on the side. The story is simple yet profound, connecting elements of nature, city life, park walks, and scenes where human empathy develops as we grow with the image of a dog hoping to be adopted. The small font of the evocative narrative is filled with textual sensory meaning, with adjectives that invite preschoolers to feel in their imagination "wet waves," "rough sand," or a "prickly nest." The story, set in one or two lines of text, also plays with opposites ("small person in a big chair" and "bright lighting in a dark cloud"), conveying a playful mood. This book masterfully bonds the plot with expressive art, where each pictorial element complements the words and emotions drawn from the main character's life as a child, a teen, a professional, a mom, and a grandmother. It is ideal for engaging with children for a sensory story time at the emotional and age-appropriate intellectual level. The color pencil illustrations convey a sense of serenity, using symmetry and the color green as a thematic clothing unit to represent the main character as she grows older in this story. VERDICT A biography-like picture book that invites children to feel, sense, and respond to textual clues.-Kathia Ibacache
Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2023
Salmieri delivers a moving intergenerational story using opposites as its central conceit. Opening pages show a view of Earth from space, reading: "In the dark sky floats a bright planet." The page-turn zooms in on a seashore "where wet waves crash on a dry stretch of beach." Next, there's a city, whose characters are rendered in colored pencil with a sketchy, gestural style. These include "a small person in a big chair," the protagonist of the story. She is a toddler who appears Asian, with dark hair and peachy-tan skin. Salmieri wisely gives the character signature green clothing, a color symbolic of growth, so that readers can recognize her as she changes throughout the book, from child to teen to professional scientist and woman with a family of her own, all the while incorporating opposites that reflect her interests and experiences ("a loud concert in a quiet field...thick books made up on thin sheets of paper"). At the end, the green-clad woman, her dark hair now white, is shown with a baby in her lap, looking at "an old photo in a new frame / �that] Shows a picture of a small person in a big chair." It's an immensely satisfying, full-circle conclusion.
(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)