When Stella Was Very, Very Small by Marie-Louise Gay
Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library -- School Library Journal, 7/22/2009
GAY, Marie-Louise. When Stella Was Very, Very Small. illus. by author. unpaged. CIP. Groundwood. Aug. 2009. Tr $16.95. ISBN 978-0-88899-906-1. LC C2008-907659-1.
PreS-Gr 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.
