When+I+Am+Eight

When I Am Eight Written by Joan Lowery Nixon Illustrated by Dick Gackenbach Book review by Katie Ayers

Bibliographical data Ages 5 and up Hardcover book 30 pages Published by Dial; first edition (February 7, 1994) $8.00 on amazon Language: English ISBN: 0803714998

Author Biography Joan Lowery Nixon was an American journalist and author who specialized in historical fiction and mysteries for children and young adults. She was born on February 3, 1927 and died on June 28, 2003. She won many awards including but not limited to The California Young Reader Medal of the California Library Association and four Edgar Allan Poe awards. Her books include the Orphan Train Adventures, the Orphan Train Children books, and the Ellis Island Series.

Summary This book is about a boy named Herbie who has a brother who is eight years old. In this book, herbie's older brother won't let him do things with him because be thinks he is too young. Herbie imagines all the great things he is going to do when he turns eight just like his brother, but his stuff is going to be even better than his brothers. In the end of it all, Herbie realizes that he will let his brother enjoy all these great things with him because he is his brother after all and it doesn't matter if he is mean to him, he can still be included in the fun activities that are going to take place on his eighth birthday!

Review I thought that this book was really cute and funny! I really enjoyed reading it and finding out all the great things that Herbie was planning on doing on his birthday that would make it better than his brothers. I thought this was a great book because a lot of children can relate to it when they are the youngest sibling in the house. Sometimes older brothers and sisters might not want to play with them because they find them annoying, and I thought this book could really reach home to those children. And for the children who might not be able to relate as much, it's still a great read with great illustrations to go along with it! I really enjoyed the ending when Herbie said that even though his brother is stronger and older than him, he can still go to his Party with everyone else.

Analysis of literary elements (character development) In the beginning of this book, Herbie was talking about how much he could not wait until he was eight so he could do better things than his older brother and not invite him because he is always mean to Herbie. By the end of this book, however, Herbie decides that he is going to let his brother do all the fun things too because he is his brother. He decided that, "he can come to my party even if he is bigger and stronger and older than me. Even if he keeps telling me I'm too little. Even if he keeps making me SO MAD! Because he is my brother" (Nixon 27). In the beginning of this story, the reader would never think that Herbie would want his brother at his birthday party because he would always say he was going to have and do better stuff than his brother did. Herbie developed and grew a lot during this story. It is important for students to read this book because they will see that even if people are sometimes mean to you, it's nice to include them. Many children have older siblings and can relate to this story and by having them see what Herbie did when he included his brother, it will help them have a better perspective about how to treat their older sibling, cousin or even friend who might have better things than them. It teaches a good lesson that all children should learn.