Reviews for Here we all are

The average rating for Here we all are based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-09-01 00:00:00 Robert Antonucci I have loved books that Tomie dePaola has done even though I haven't had a chance to read the majority of them since they seem to be so hard to find. As a result this book was still quite new to be but it was still startling just given to the fact that I didn't know that he had started doing chapter books while what makes this one a particular treat is that it is a part of an autobiographical series of Tomie when he was growing up. in Here We All Are, which is the second book of the series, we find that Tomie and his immediate family have moved from a small apartment into a big house. At this particular age he is about four years old while showing the same talent that can be found in his artistic family. At the same time, though, that he is getting used to school and a new home Tomie finds out also that he is going to be a big brother to a new baby. What a great surprise! The story goes from there exploring the effects of the new house such as the leaking shower floor, what it means to be a troublesome yet creative child at school, the growing of his talents and of course the much anticipated arrival of a baby sister even though Mom says it could still also possibly be a boy. And with each raise of the curtain on such funny episodes in young Tomie's life I found myself laughing, shaking my hand and quite relating with this poor child's responses. Although I have Tomie dePaola under kidlit since of the majority of his known works to me, this one could very well be used as a YA-Junior book. The writing is easy to read and follow while young Tomie is very relatable to all those kids who have just a bit too much creativity. There are some areas that may need a bit help such as the rare appearance of Italian or some of the names but these are rather easy hurdles. Furthermore to help make this a YA-Junior book in my opinion is the fact that Tomie also includes his well-known illustration style to populate his book with well-known characters to him while providing a break to readers. Unfortunately these aren't colored but black-and-white yet they still hold the charm that dePaola's work is known for. This is definitely one treasured find I cannot believe someone was giving away and here is to my hope that they will sell the whole series together instead of piecemeal in the future. Until then for those who enjoy Tomie dePaola's work, for those who like to see how it was like growing up in the 1930s-1940s or just a parent who needs a good read to help them orient this series may be just the one for you.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-04-25 00:00:00 Frederick Jones My favorite story in this one was how much Tomie missed his mom when she was at the hospital having his baby sister and how excited he was for his baby sister. ❤️