When I Grow Up
About This Story
The book opens on a small bear cub sitting next to a parent. The cub is looking up at something — the sky, or the future, or both. The text on the first spread is the read aloud’s whole question, asked in one short line. “When I grow up, I want to be clever.” The next spread adds the next wish. “I want to be funny.” The next spread adds the next. “I want to be wild.” “I want to be free.” “I want to be big.”
This is a short, lyrical read aloud — built around a single sentence per spread, with each sentence adding a single wish to the cub’s list of the future. The text is gentle. The rhythm is steady. Each page turns the cub’s imagination into one more piece of the adult the cub is becoming. By the time the read aloud is done, the cub has imagined a future that is bold and free and full of love, and the read aloud has done what short, lyrical picture books do best. It has turned a small wonder into a small piece of real talk between a parent and a kid.
The illustrations are by Emma Dodd, who also wrote the book. They are bold, simple, and shimmer with foil accents on every spread, which is the kind of touch that holds the eye of a wiggly preschooler. The bear cub appears in the same pose on every spread — looking up, imagining — and the things the cub imagines change. A parent reading this book aloud with a kid can pause on every spread and ask what the kid would add to the list. That pause is the read aloud’s small gift.
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What Happens in the Story
The story is structured as a list of wishes, one per spread. The bear cub is the only character. The parent is on the first spread, sitting next to the cub, and the parent does not speak — the book is the cub speaking to the reader and to the parent at the same time. The first wish is to be clever. The second is to be funny. The third is to be wild. The fourth is to be free. The fifth is to be big.
Each wish is paired with a foil-embellished illustration of the cub imagining its future self. The foil is the read aloud’s signature visual touch — small patches of metallic shine that catch the light as the page turns. The cub stays small across all the spreads. The future stays imaginary. The wishes get bigger. The read aloud ends with one final wish that lands harder than the others. “I want to be happy.” “I want to be loved.” The book closes with a soft, foil-sparkled embrace between the cub and the parent, and the read aloud is done.
Why It Works for Family Read Aloud
The first thing parents notice is that the read aloud is short. Each spread is one sentence. The whole book is one page turn after another, and there is no plot to keep track of. A tired parent can get through it without losing the thread, which is a real selling point for last-book-of-the-night reading.
The second thing parents notice is that the read aloud opens a conversation. After every spread, a parent can ask the kid what they would add to the list. After “I want to be clever,” the parent can ask “What do you want to be clever at?” After “I want to be wild,” the parent can ask “What does wild look like to you?” The book gives the kid permission to imagine, and the parent permission to ask. That back-and-forth is what turns a five-minute read aloud into a twenty-minute bedtime conversation.
The third thing worth pointing out is the foil. Emma Dodd’s foil accents catch the light on every spread, which is the kind of visual touch that holds a wiggly kid’s attention. The bear cub looks up at the future on every spread, and the foil gives the future a small physical sparkle. That is the kind of read aloud that feels like a keepsake, which is the only reason a board book earns a permanent spot on the bedtime shelf.
Who This Book Is For
This read aloud is built for the preschool and early kindergarten crowd — kids who are old enough to imagine a future and who are starting to ask what their adult self might look like. It is also a good fit for any child who is moving through a season of becoming, who has just started asking big questions about life, or who needs a quiet moment with a parent before bed.
It is also a good pick for families who have already enjoyed other titles in the Emma Dodd Love You Books series — I Love My Mommy, I Love My Daddy, Forever — and want to add another quiet keepsake to the rotation. If you have a child who can sit through a short, lyrical read aloud and who is starting to wonder what the future might hold, this is a good first-or-fifth Emma Dodd pick.
Want to see what other picture books about feelings and family we have on the shelf? Browse the full list at ourreadingcircle.com/category/feelings-emotions for more read aloud options, or ourreadingcircle.com/category for the full library.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is When I Grow Up about?
It is a tender picture book read aloud about a small bear cub sitting with a parent and dreaming out loud about the future. Each spread adds a single wish to the cub’s list — clever, funny, wild, free, big, happy, loved — and each wish is paired with a foil-embellished illustration of the cub imagining its future self.
Who wrote When I Grow Up?
It was written and illustrated by Emma Dodd, and was published by Templar Books in the UK (2007) and Candlewick Press in the US (2015 hardcover, 2020 board book). It is part of the Emma Dodd Love You Books series, which includes I Love My Mommy, I Love My Daddy, and Forever.
What age is When I Grow Up for?
It works best for preschool through kindergarten, which we read as 3 to 5 years. The board book format and the short text make the early end of that range the most natural fit, but the emotional content is the kind that lands for early elementary kids too.
Is When I Grow Up good for read aloud?
Yes. The text is short, the rhythm is gentle, and each spread ends with a question a parent can ask the kid. It is one of the easier five-minute read alouds in the picture book world, which makes it a good last-book-of-the-night pick for tired parents.
Is When I Grow Up part of a series?
Yes. It is one of the Emma Dodd Love You Books, which also includes I Love My Mommy, I Love My Daddy, Forever, I Love You, and Just Right. All five share the same short-text, bold-illustration, foil-accented format.
Does When I Grow Up help with anxiety about the future?
Yes — gently. The book does not pretend the future is easy. It just lets a small bear cub imagine the future as a place the cub gets to design, and lets the parent sit next to the cub the whole time. That is the kind of read aloud that lands for kids who are starting to wonder what their future might look like.
Where can I find more read alouds like this?
We keep a full category of feelings and family read alouds at ourreadingcircle.com — start with the feelings & emotions page for more read aloud ideas, or browse all categories for the full library.
