I'm Growing! Book

Title: I'm Growing!
Author: Aliki
Illustrator:
Genre: Concept Book
Theme(s): Growing, Health, Human Body
Opening line/sentence:
Look at me!
My clothes don't fit
Brief Book Summary: This book explains how and why we grow. With the help of eating right, we can continue to grow every day. It is completely natural and totally normal.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Horn Books
32 pp. HarperCollins ISBN 0-06-020244-0 PE ISBN 0-06-020245-9
(3) K-3 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series. A simple explanation of bodily changes to answer a young child's questions. A Hispanic boy describes what happens as one grows - clothes don't fit, bones get longer, and noses get larger. Even one's brain, heart, and lungs grow. The illustrations include the boy's family and friends of various ethnic backgrounds.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: CLCD
Hazel Rochman (Booklist, Apr. 15, 1992 (Vol. 88, No. 16))
In her latest entry in the excellent Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Book series, Aliki's bright, clear, realistic illustrations show a smiling child who's delighted that he's growing bigger ("My shirt won't button. My jeans are too short"). Some basic concepts of physiology are explained in a straightforward, simple text with playful pictures of the Hispanic boy, his extended family, and his friends. People develop, they change, they age. They grow in height and weight. Their hair never stops growing. Inside, too, there are changes, in brain, heart, and other organs. This entertaining concept book celebrates individual differences while it acknowledges every child's longing to be big and strong. Category: For the Young. 1992, HarperCollins.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both of these book reviews are positive. They explain how the author touches on children of various cultures, showing that all children no matter where they are from, all grow in the same ways. The pictures are basic, but accurately depict what the words on the page are saying.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: This book includes children from all cultures. The plot is easy to follow, and explains in the right words how and why we grow. The characterization of the main boy throughout the story accurately depicts the natural growing process. Through the point of view of the boy, the author, through multiple characters, describes different aspects of growing.
Consideration of Instructional Application: I would use this book with kids who are just starting to go through the growing process. I would explain that it is okay to grow, and that it is something that happens to everyone. Each student could bring in a picture of themselves as a body, and show it to the class. This would emphasis how much the children have grown already. Also, as the teacher, I would bring in a few pictures of me throughout my life to show how much I have grown.