Marie-Louise Gay has gone back in time to answer the questions often asked by the children who read and love her Stella books. Where does Stella get her wild ideas? How big is Stella’s imagination? What did Stella look like when she was small? How did Stella come to be the big sister to Sam? Although Gay didn’t know what she would find when she started to explore Stella’s childhood, she soon realized that when Stella was very small, she saw the world in her own unique way — with wonder, curiosity, and the sense that everything is possible. Evocative watercolors and imaginative text make this one of the most endearing entries in the series.
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Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 2—This new offering in Gay's delightful series about inquisitive and imaginative Stella explores her vantage points from each developmental stage to date. As a crawler, she's eye to eye with a turtle. While her curly orange locks distinguish her from the reptile, the green attire and prone position suggest a mirror image. A goldfish and dog phase follow. Gay's sensitivity to the rich inner life of childhood flows into her art and language. As a toddler, Stella ascends to the top of the sofa, surveying "the whole world." A seven-rung ladder propped against the cushions suggests her perception of the adventure. When she is a preschooler, the words in her book "looked like ants running off the pages," and that's just how they appear. Gay's mixed-media scenes dance with the energy of scribbled butterflies on the walls, teetering objects, and a blanket-turned-turban that flaps as Stella braves the desert storm in the sandbox. When she becomes bigger, the turtle struggles to keep up with her brisk pace. Her yard is no longer a force with which to be reckoned, but rather an orderly place where she pursues entomology. As for her literacy skills, "the ants in her books have become words, and the words have become stories." Stella is pictured reading to little Sam (who's now wearing the green outfit). Subtle and sweet, yet full of life and humor, the child's world is a place kids will want to visit again and again.—Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"[A] delightful series . . . Gay’s mixed-media scenes dance . . . Subtle and sweet, yet full of life and humor, [Stella's] world is a place kids will want to visit again and again." —School Library Journal, starred review
“The charming illustrations, rendered in watercolour, pastel and collage, depict red-headed Stella’s antics in great detail and from a variety of perspectives. Young readers will wish they could be just like Stella, or at least have a big sister like her. Stella is both wonderful and full of wonder — purely glorious.” —Kirkus, starred review
“If you’ve ever wondered how Stella got so imaginative, wonder no more . . . Enchanting overhead views subtly drive home how being small makes the world seem big, and young listeners will feel encouraged to laugh at their own past foibles.” —Booklist
“Stella’s dynamic world and big sister charisma will pay off for fans of the gentle series.” —Publishers Weekly
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This was a charming look at life from the eyes of a very, very small child!,
This review is from: When Stella Was Very, Very Small (Stella and Sam) (Hardcover)
When Stella was just a little thing, she saw things differently than everyone else. She had beautiful curly red hair and didn't look at all like a turtle, but when she was "very, very small, she thought she was a turtle." She pretended she was a goldfish, but when she crawled around on the floor BOW WOW . . . she was a dog. Now being a dog was the most fun of all. She was such a tiny thing that when she got up on the back of the couch "she could see the whole world" and it was very big. She wasn't able to do a lot of things, but she was pretty good at racing "against her rubber ducks in the enormous Olympic-sized pool" in the bathroom. Stella was a very good artist and her butterflies looked nice on the wall. She wasn't big enough to read and "words looked like ants running off the pages." When she was out walking in the grass chasing bumble bees and dragonflies, it was just like being in a jungle. The big orange kitty cat looked like "a ferocious man-eating tiger." It was soooo interesting being very, very small, but when she got big things started to look a bit different. Growing up was lots of fun and Stella was starting to see things in a different light! This was a charming look at life from the eyes of a very, very small child. This is a very imaginative story and it brought a few smiles to my face. The story suddenly flip flops and we see Stella as a "big girl" who looks at life in a new and magical way. I loved the "pretend," the "imagination" and the adventure in this adorable tale. If you have a little one, this is the perfect tale to read when you cuddle up in a chair or rocker!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book will appeal to children age 3 and up,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: When Stella Was Very, Very Small (Stella and Sam) (Hardcover)
"When Stella Was Very, Very Small" is the latest in the author's series of Stella books, exploring the growing imaginative world view of a little girl. When Stella was very, very small, the world seems immense, magical, and filled with mysterious events and creatures. Words on a page are like ants to her because she cannot understand or read them, but she can hear and understand the stories of trees at night as she is going to bed. so much in Stella's world has changed, or become more understandable as she has grown, but she retains her curiosity and her unique ability to imagine herself and her world differently. She has the lucky chance to be able to teach some of her thoughts and stories to her little brother, Sam, because a part os her still remembers and values the time and experiences "When Stella Was Very, Very Small." Beautiful, delicate water color illustrations lend depth to the fantasy and whimsical elements of "When Stella Was Very, Very Small." This book will appeal to children age 3 and up.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Imaginative and Magical,
This review is from: When Stella Was Very, Very Small (Stella and Sam) (Hardcover)
This book is absolutely adorable. It is the story of Stella, an adorable little redhead, and her world. It is a beautifully-illustrated tale of how young children view their world. Stella's sandbox was a desert, her backyard was a tropical jungle, her bathtub was an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and her house was very, VERY big. As she grows, her perspective of her world changes and she gets to help her little brother, Sam, experience the world as she did.
This book is so imaginative. The colorful, sketch-like drawings were definitely my favorite part. They remind me of the cute illustrations in Humphrey's Bedtime (Owlet Book), also an adorable children's book. I haven't read any of the other Stella books (Stella, Princess of the Sky, Stella, Fairy of the Forest, etc.), but I will be sure to check them out after reading this beautiful book about a child's magical adventures. I highly recommend this book!
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