When I Grow Up

by Tim Minchin, Steve Antony (Illustrator)

Overview

GREAT GRADUATION GIFT!Tim Minchin's Tony Award-winning lyrics from Matilda the Musical are paired with new artwork from bestselling illustrator Steve Antony.

When I grow up,I will be tall enoughto reach the branches that I need to reachto climb the treesyou get to climb when you're grown up. A group of children imagines all of the things that they will be able to do once they grow up, and they plan to do anything and everything. They hope to solve problems, play in the sun all day long, be brave, and even eat ice cream all day. The combination of Tim Minchin's Tony Award-winning Matilda the Musical lyrics and Steve Antony's joyful artwork is sure to inspire readers of all ages to explore the endless possibilities that the future could have in store.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338283310
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	03/27/2018
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	20 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Steve Antony is the popular author and illustrator of Please, Mr. Panda (S'il vous plaît, M. Panda​); I'll Wait, Mr. Panda (C'est prêt, M. Panda?); Thank You, Mr. Panda (Merci, M. Panda); The Queen's Hat; Green Lizards vs. Red Rectangles; and Betty Goes Bananas. The Queen's Hat was nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal in the UK. Steve lives in Swindon, England.
Tim Minchin is a Tony Award-winning musician, comedian, actor, and writer. In 2009, he was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company to write the music and lyrics for a stage adaptation of Roald Dahl's Matilda. Matilda the Musical has won over 50 international awards, including seven Olivier Awards and five Tony Awards. Other works include Dark Side, Tim Minchin and the Orchestra, and Groundhog Day. He lives in Los Angeles and can be found online at www.timminchin.com.

Editorial Reviews

12/18/2017
Three children imagine that adult life means finally having the freedom to do everything they aren’t allowed or aren’t able to do as kids. They’ll be able to “eat sweets every day on the way to work” and go to bed late; they’ll be smart enough to know the answers and brave enough to “fight the creatures that you have to fight beneath your bed.” Antony’s color-washed line drawings sprawl across the pages, bright, cheerful, and the picture of abundance: there’s a grassy hilltop, a library stuffed with books, bedrooms filled with cozy quilts and pillows, and shopping carts stuffed with goodies. His characters may yearn for greater autonomy, and their picture of maturity may be skewed, but this world is a pretty benevolent place. And that’s the problem: readers are presented with a nice picture but not a very compelling journey. It’s a book most likely to be remembered for being, in tone and mood, pretty much the opposite of its source material: Minchin’s darkly wistful, tear-inducing second-act song from the musical Matilda. Ages 3–5. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Please, Mr. Panda, written and illustrated by Steve Antony:"Smart design decisions by Antony... distinguish his visual storytelling. The warm gray backdrop and parade of black and white animals (a skunk, an ostrich, an orca) make the candy-colored doughnuts look all the more tantalizing. Novel perspectives... provide freshness, too." — Publishers Weekly"Tiny young listeners may be so pleased — and relieved — to see the dazzling treats given away that they won't notice how deftly they've been given a manners lesson. Households with toddlers may find a new family catchphrase as Mr. Panda demonstrates one approach to eliciting those elusive 'magic words.' Simple yet funny enough for multiple readings." — Kirkus Reviews"Though this is a book with a clear message, the humor and attractive design give it a bit of an edge and keep it out of the realm of the heavy-handed, 'Let's learn a lesson' titles. A fun storytime selection and a solid option for parents or teachers looking for a creative way to emphasize the importance of saying, 'Please' and 'Thank you.'" — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

07/01/2018
PreS-Gr 1—This ode to growing up is inspired by Tim Minchin's hit song from Matilda the Musical and is paired with Antony's mixture of gray pencil and color sketches. The translation from stage to story book unfortunately loses something along the way. Instead of plot, intrigue, or resolution, the repeating refrain of "When I grow up" summarizes all the benefits of growing up and getting to do whatever one wants. Some highlights of adulthood are simple, like getting to "have treats every day" and others are a little more nuanced, like being "strong enough to carry all the heavy things you have to haul around with you when you are a grown-up." The art does its best to propel the lines forward but the poignant fallacy of the refrain will be utterly lost on a young audience. VERDICT This title seems more like a humorous pick for a graduation present, given that an adult reader is likely to remember with nostalgia what it was like to look forward to growing up.—Jenna Boles, Greene County Public Library, Beavercreek, OH

School Library Journal

2018-01-22
Minchin's affecting song from the Tony Award-winning musical Matilda gets the picture book treatment."When I grow up, I will be / tall enough to reach / the branches that / I have to reach // to climb the trees you get to climb // when you're grown-up." Three grayscale children (one with cropped hair and pale skin, one with long hair in a ponytail and glasses, and one with darker skin and two curly puffs) in shorts, T-shirts, and sneakers journey through increasingly whimsical double-page spreads. Imagining the freedoms of adulthood, the children fantasize about loading grocery carts with "treats" and battling "the creatures that you have to fight beneath the bed each night to be a grown-up." The final spread shows the original trio at dusk under a large tree, looking wistfully at the branches: "When I grow up. / When I grow up. / When I grow up." Spreads in dusty pastels sometimes clash with the children's bold, primary-colored outfits, but they otherwise create a pleasant calm. The illustrations portray a relatively diverse array of characters, including children who use wheelchairs and children with varying hair textures and (gray) skin tones. Unfortunately, however, without the melody and the context of the musical, the bittersweet poignancy of the song is lost and the lyrics fall flat.Not as smooth as many other song-to-picture book titles; harmless but ultimately unsatisfying. (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews