Even the Smallest Will Grow by Lita Judge

Publisher : Atheneum Books for Young Readers 
Language : English
Hardcover : 32 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-1534457256

Scintillating, radiant, inspiring and exquisite can be the only words to describe the latest children's poetic collection Even the Smallest Will Grow by Lita Judge. No doubt the poet is adept in portraying her magnificent imaginations interwoven with the most inspiring poems. As being a picture book Lita has done phenomenal work in the meticulousness of the pictures whether it is highlighting the soft toys in a cozy wooden room or including the idle gumboots when the mother and her child are inside the home. Every minute detail has been consequentially portrayed and in a manner that the cynosure remains the same at the core of the book (the young girl and her mother) but the minute details facilitate in supporting the scenes for framing the background of the story. 

The book begins with an inspiring poem stating a basic nature of an acorn to sleep till its root are ready to reach deep into the earth which thereby motivates the book’s young readers in a well charming way.

“Tucked beneath a blanket of leaves, 

the acorn sleeps until its roots are ready to reach 

deep into the earth, 

and it begins to grow . . .”

The poet questions with a doubt, “You too will grow. What will you become?” depicting uncertainty of the future. Well, no one can predict what the young ones will become in the future but being a human, we tend to imagine the future of our loved ones same as the poet does. Through following poems, the poet imagines different traits belonging to different kinds of eminent which the young girl would get in future.

Will you be an artist,

like the tiniest seed/ 

Or will you be a poet, 

like the seashell that grows in spirals/

Will you be a seeker,

like the bird that silently grows

within her egg

Or will you be mighty,

like the clouds that deepen

and strengthen into a storm?

The poet weave the dreams too early because of the undying love but doesn’t forget to give her child the freeness of becoming anything which she would like to become as she mentions, “You can grow to be anything you want” depicting that the will is the most important thing and is above her cheerful dreams. The gist of the book is nothing but the title of the book itself, Even the Smallest Will Grow, the book starts and ends with the same phrase and on a deep look has a powerful meaning stating that the growth doesn’t depend on the creature’s size or length which is quite inspiring for the young readers. Reading such a book will undoubtedly elate the young readers or the kids and I highly recommend this book to all the parents who are looking for a picture book as it is worth buying such a wonderful book for children.             

Lita Judge is the author and illustrator of 30 fiction and nonfiction books including The Wisdom of Trees, Mary’s Monster, One Thousand Tracings, Born in the Wild, Red Sled, and Hoot and Peep. Her book, Flight School, has recently been adapted into an off-Broadway musical which was shown in New York City and China. Awards for her books include the International Reading Association Children’s Book Award, an ALA Notable, NCTE Notable Book, a Kirkus Best Book, and the Jane Addams Honor. Before she created art and books, Lita was a geologist and worked on dinosaur digs. But a trip to Venice Italy inspired her to quit her job and pursue a lifelong passion for creating art. Now, when not in her studio, she can be found backpacking through Europe with her sketchbook and easel in hand. Painting in the streets of Italy, France, Sweden, Russia and many other places have inspired her many of her books. The novel, Mary’s Monster, was inspired through reading Mary Shelley’s journals while exploring places she had traveled. This book created a rich opportunity to explore working in a completely new form, that of combining free verse with full page illustrations in novel form. Lita was drawn to capturing the interior world of Mary Shelley’s mind, as well as the realistic images of her life. Creating this book was a journey in itself and took five years to complete. Lita lives in New Hampshire.

https://www.simonandschuster.co.in/books/Even-the-Smallest-Will-Grow/Lita-Judge/9781534457263

                                                                                                                                                           ---- Rochak Agarwal