A Little Space for Me

by Jennifer Gray Olson

Overview

With clever, inventive art and universally relatable themes, A Little Space for Me by Jennifer Gray Olson is a heartwarming picture book about the importance of mindfulness, understanding, and finding a moment of peace within a big, busy world.

Sometimes, when it's too loud, too crowded, too messy, too smelly, or for no reason at all, you might just need a little bit of space to feel like yourself again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250206268
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	07/28/2020
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Jennifer Gray Olson is the creator of Ninja Bunny, Ninja Bunny: Sister vs. Brother, and Me and Mr. Fluffernutter. Her love of creating entertaining and unique characters and the worlds in which they live led her to writing and illustrating. She is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in art education. Jennifer lives in sunny Southern California, where she shares her sometimes crowded space with all her favorite people and pets.

Editorial Reviews

Inventive compositions will transport readers into the thoughts and emotions of the protagonist. Both text and art show familiar experiences, but Olson also leaves them open to interpretation, showing people can interact with the world in different ways . . . Ripe for discussion.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A thought-provoking rumination on mindfulness . . . Olson’s art is gorgeous . . . An excellent choice for a bedtime book as kids wind down from their chaotic days.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Publisher

2020-05-03
A child learns to create a little private space to find peace and recenter in order to once again share with others.

Sometimes even a loving home can feel a little too loud or crowded. Whether it’s a younger sibling playing the piano or grandma slurping, at times it’s too noisy for the bespectacled protagonist, who wears a high bun. Smells and lights on the bus and at school can also overwhelm, and sometimes the inexplicable can be too much. So one day, the narrator climbs to the top of a kid-filled jungle gym to grab some space. Olson as both author and artist plays with the homonym, as the child literally and figuratively grabs for space and captures some universe in a bottle. Wanting even more, the kid grabs jars and bucketfuls until the cosmos is all around. Finally able to meditate, rest, and dream, the child is then able to rejoin the multigenerational family—and still keep a bit of private space, shown in the replacement of each family member’s hair with a starry infinitude. While the characters are drawn in a simplified style, inventive compositions will transport readers into the thoughts and emotions of the protagonist. Both text and art show familiar experiences, but Olson also leaves them open to interpretation, showing people can interact with the world in different ways. The family is interracial, with Asian-presenting mom and grandparents and white-presenting dad.

Ripe for discussion. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews