THE GROWING STORY |Children's book by Ruth Krauss and Helen Oxenbury

The Growing Story

Author: Ruth Krauss
Illustrator: Helen Oxenbury
BUY – The Growing Story

Sometimes children need to wait for proof that they have grown. This is especially hard to notice when rest of the world is growing so fast before their eyes.

Originally published in 1947 this eternal story of childhood impatience and the reward of being patience, takes on a new lease of life with Helen Oxenbury’s gorgeous, fresh illustrations which follow a little boy and his mother through a whole year of growth.

The word grow is picked out and used to describe many situations throughout the story.

Days grow longer, nights grow shorter. The leaves grow on the trees, the chicks and dog grow taller. The summer unfolding, the air grows warmer and the corn grows as high as a man. But the child does not feel any bigger.

The etheric illustrations capture the seasons perfectly, from blossoms to brooding autumnal skies.
The child worries that he has not grown bigger, but when the cool weather comes again and he retrieves his stored winter clothes he is filled with delight and surprise.