Linda Ashman
HarperCollins Publishers (2008)
ISBN 9780060290511
Reviewed by Cayden (age 4) and Max (age 2) Aures and Mom for Reader Views (10/08)
“When I Was King” is about a boy who was always the center of attention, that is, until his little brother came along. Now, it seems like all anyone does is look and play with the baby. The boy goes on about how everything was his until the baby arrived: “This train was mine. This hat was mine. This boat was mine. This bat was mine.” In the end he decides that maybe he can share his throne with his little brother.
Cayden: “I think that the big boy is me and the baby is Max. I was the only one until we brought him home from the hospital.”
Max: “Me baby too!”
Cayden: “All of the toys and books and things were mine then I had to share with Max just like the boy in the book.”
Cayden: “Max wrecks my things sometimes too like the baby is doing. He knocks over the towers that I build and remember when he ripped a page in that one book?”
Cayden: “I can do lots of things that Max can’t though like the boy. I help you to fold the towels and to make bread. Max is too little to do those things.”
Max: “Too little to help.”
Cayden: “But you will be big someday Max, like me!
Cayden: “I think that boy loves his brother now like I love Max!”
Max: “Love you Cayden!”
Parent’s Comments:
“When I Was King” by Linda Ashman is the perfect book to give to an older sibling when a new baby arrives. Cayden could relate to everything in the book and, in my opinion, it was a very accurate portrayal of how a big brother feels when a new baby is introduced into the family. We went through almost all of the same things. The illustrations wonderfully depict what is happening and my children loved them!
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