When you're older by Sofie Laguna and Judy Watson

A new born baby in the house has given the older sibling thoughts about their future together. He sits by the cot dreaming of what will happen when his baby brother is older. He is not exciting at the moment, because all he does is drink milk and sleep, but Mum has assured him that this will change when he is older. He imagines the things they will do together: ride bikes through the jungle, watch the snakes in the trees, hide in a cave and listen to the messages sent by the birds, collect shells and driftwood to put on their sandcastle at the beach. All of these things and more are underpinned by the refrain ‘when you are older’, making it a line listeners will want to repeat with the reader. 

At night, the boy continues, they will sleep on the roof, watching the stars and reading books about dragons, then they will find the wooden boat and have adventures on the seas, ending up in the Arctic with a sled pulled by wild dogs. 

Their adventures become more hair raising as one falls from the boat in rough seas, but the other is there to save him. It matters not in the imagination about which brother falls, the other is always there. The two together will watch out for each other, and do lots together when the baby is older.

The relationship between the two boys  will evoke responses from the readers and listeners about their experiences with their siblings; what  they do together, how close they are, as this charming story relays a wonderful evolution of togetherness in the household. The future looks happy and joyful for the siblings, as the older boy recounts all the adventures they will have. 

The illustrations reveal the boys on all their adventures. In colourful images which fill every page, Watson’s multi faceted techniques inspire and delight as a range of settings is shown: the bedroom with its chest of drawers and paintings on the wall, riding through the jungle with a plethora of things to seek out and look for, a wonderful sandy time at the beach, and then the rowboat and its tossing upon the wild seas. Each illustration will make the reader gasp with delight as the detail draws them in to look more closely. The scenes on the bike hike, or in the cave, or on the beach are all easily identified, and may be things the readers have done themselves, but the scene on the wild seas will make them cry out as they see the wild waves and the little boat being tossed around. One overboard and the other the rescuer, and all is as it should be.

 A captivating celebration of life in all of its delights and sometimes perils, this look at the close attachment between two brothers will bewitch readers beguiled by the evocative text and luminous illustrations. 

Themes: Brothers, Siblings, Babies, Adventure.

Fran Knight