LATER, WHEN I'M BIG

A youngster imagines brave adventures that await in the future.

Compelling artwork accompanies this simple story, translated from Dutch, about a child wondering at all that will be possible “Later, when I’m big.” As the book opens, a light-skinned parent and child are seen heading to an indoor water park. The swimming pools slowly morph into the child’s fantasies of the future—everything from sleeping in a haunted castle to “swinging on a trapeze, with a big drumroll and a shiny sequined suit.” Scenes range from trips through fairy-tale forests to underwater adventures to the everyday, like jumping off a diving board. All of these reveries evoke the wonder of childhood, where a realistic challenge like “drinking cold soda, even if it tickles my throat,” can exist on the same plane as flying to Saturn. The loose-lined, acrylic illustrations are stunning. One breathtaking, painterly scene shows the child galloping on horseback across a prairie, the gorgeous glow of desert and sunset a perfect blend. A bright spot of red—a scarf, bow, or ski suit—appears on the child on every page, a call back to the bathing suit in the opening, a way to identify them within their dream world. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Deftly captures a child’s sense of wonder at the vastness of the world.