When I Was Nine [Hardcover]

James Stevenson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1986 | Age Level: 5 and up

James Stevenson remembers his family life during his ninth year, particularly a summer car trip through several states in the West.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Stevenson (Are We Almost There?, Worse than Willy!, etc.) departs from his usual hilarity in this reminiscence of one special summer. With luminous watercolors and spare language, he carefully distills an American childhood in the '30s. Climbing trees, ice-skating on a frozen pond, playing ball, listening to the radio and even publishing his own "Neighborhood News" filled his days. In the summer of '39, the family "packed the car for a trip out west." They visited a cave in Missouri, saw the Northern Lights and, best of all, stayed on a ranch in New Mexico. For his birthday, "My parents bought me exactly what I always wanted . . . a cowboy hat." When they returned home, "everything looked just the way it always had . . . except maybe a little smaller . . . I wasn't nine anymore." Perfect for family sharing and a bittersweet treat for Stevenson's fans, When I Was Nine will be read and reread with pleasure.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3 Don't be fooled by the titlethis book isn't just for third graders. It's a visit to a time when things were simpler but people were just the same. Stevenson details his daily life during a summer in the 1930s. His mother read to young James and his brother. No one could teach him arithmetic. When his brother had a friend over, they wouldn't let him play. He put out a neighborhood newspaper; not everybody wanted one. He and his family drove to New Mexico for a vacation, where they rode horseback and swam in a mountain stream. When they came home, everything was just the same, "except maybe a little smaller." A life like this, without television or Xerox machines, could seem impossibly exotic to today's children, but Stevenson throws in a comforting handful of things any child knowsvisits to Grandma in the summer, a best friend who's only fun "about half the time." Stevenson's blobby watercolors in warm pastels, this time without his characteristic black holding lines, create a hazy, nostalgic atmosphere. When I Was Nine is a book to think about and to savor; a special treat for children and their grandparents. Lucy Young Clem, Evansville-Vanderburgh County Public Library, Ind.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow; 1st edition (April 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688059422
• ISBN-13: 978-0688059422
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #785,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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