when you were small

I first saw this book at a children's boutique and instantly fell in love with it's outsides. With it's dolphin smooth robin egg blue cover and chocolate brown cloth spine, the pleasure is both tactile and visual. The hand drawn illustrations, hand lettered drop caps and muted colours harken back to an earlier time. It's almost like a treasure that I could find hidden on a thrift store shelf and I'm almost amazed I could purchase it brand new.

The story is quite simple. Henry asks his dad every night, "Tell me about when I was small".

"When you were small you couldn't hold a spoon so you used to sit on the edge of my porridge bowl and dip your head in like a baby bird."

When You Were Small, by Sara O'Leary with illustrations by Julie Morstad. Published by Simply Read Books.