Pomelo Begins to Grow [Hardcover]

Pomelo Begins to GrowWhat happens as a little one begins to grow? Do parts of the body grow unequally? If the outside grows, does that mean the inside is changing too? Children love it when they begin to grow! But they also have questions and maybe even worry a little too. Pomelo Begins to Grow explores this rich material with playfulness and humor, without undercutting the importance of the questions.
Ramona Badescu was born in Romania in 1980. She arrived in France at eleven and started to write for children at twenty-one. A busy, prolific writer, she currently lives in the wonderful city of Marseilles.
Benjamin Chaud has illustrated an impressive number of picture books and has written at least one as well.

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Review
Starred Review Pomelo Begins to Grow Ramona Badescu, trans. from the French by Claudia Bedrick, illus. by Benjamin Chaud. Enchanted Lion (Consortium, dist.), $16.95 (48p) ISBN 978-1-59270-111-7
"The young elephant Pomelo is growing up, and this French pair, in their English- language debut, chronicle his doubts and questions, transferring onto his eraser- pink body and round eyes the anxieties that ordinary children have but rarely ex- press. “[Pomelo’s] a little worried that he won’t grow equally all over,” Badescu says, as Chaud supplies vignettes of Pomelo with an oversize ear here and an outsize leg there. When Pomelo “wonders what has to happen on the inside for him to grow on the outside,” Chaud draws a cutaway view of Pomelo full of complex, mysterious machinery. And to demon- strate that growing up involves “having new experiences,” Chaud shows Pomelo eating a hot pepper with fire roaring out of his mouth. Badescu is honest about young childhood’s losses (“But seriously, does growing up mean one has to stop clowning around?”) and encouraging about older children’s joys (“[W]hen your old fears return you are able to laugh at them”). Chaud lavishes as much energy on the verdant backgrounds as on Pomelo; they’re like Henri Rousseau’s tropics. The whole makes for a quirky, delectable treat. Ages 4–7. (Sept.)" -- Publishers Weekly

" [...] Badescu’s endearingly anxious pachyderm mirrors the familiar impatience to grow up, the determination never to act like adults do, and the many other concerns “medium”-sized people face. The author and illustrator demonstrate a brilliant marriage of text and illustration. Chaud’s charming paintings of Pomelo in his landscape of dandelions, strawberries, and smiling potatoes–set simply against oversize white pages–breathe life and humor into Badescu’s big-picture questions, while playing with scale. Youngsters will laugh at the silly depictions of Pomelo as he grows unevenly, while adults will smile at his joyful exploration of a countryside dotted with asparagus trees, broccoli bushes, and sushi flowers as he learns to love foods that aren’t sweet. The imagery may remind some readers of the modern Japanese ultra-cute cartoon style, but the masterful execution–and Badescu’s universal subject matter–makes this a picture book that children will return to again and again." -- School Library Journal 
  

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gentle philosophical book about the implications of a little pink garden elephant's experience of growing, August 25, 2011

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) -This review is from: Pomelo Begins to Grow (Hardcover)

"Pomelo Begins to Grow" is a gentle philosophical book about the implications of a little pink garden elephant's experience of growing. Existential musings of the growing pink elephant combine with highly amusing pictographs to provide the perfect medium for (pre-school and older) self-conscious maturation, or the examined growing life. Many resonating questions are quite simply asked and illustrated, and in good time, Pomelo feels ready to grow into his next big adventure. "Pomelo Begins to Grow" is a wonderful tool for encouraging imaginative. creative questions about the important issues. "Pomelo Begins to Grow" is part of a French children's book series about the same delightful pink garden elephant and his experiences.