Parents' Guide to

Before, Now

By Carrie Kingsley, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 4+

Warm images, lovely story follow a baby through a full life.

Book Daniel Salmieri Picture Book 2023
Before, Now Book Cover: A colorful ribbon winds around a page with small images of people, a dog, flowers, a tree, a shoe, and more

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What's the Story?

BEFORE, NOW uses opposites to describe a baby's world -- seeing fluffy birds in a prickly nest, a cold jacket on a warm face -- and follows her through adulthood. She joins friends camping, and they have near faces against distant stars; she studies thick books of thin sheets of paper. She gets older and is pregnant near a speeding train in a still station, takes her child to the beach (where there are wet waves against a dry sandcastle), and, soon enough, she's showing her grandchild a picture of herself as a baby.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Opposites are lyrical here, with soft images bringing together the lovely theme of warmth and connection to one another throughout time. Before, Now is a simple story with deep emotional impact, following a life from babyhood to childhood to being a grandma, with peace and happiness at each stage. The soft, colored pencil illustrations are wonderfully full of details and clues young readers will enjoy noticing -- like the recurring black dog and a childhood gift of a microscope hinting at the scientist the woman will become. This is a lovely pick for an interactive read-aloud.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about things that are opposites in their days and months and years, like in Before, Now. What opposites already happened in your day? What opposites are near us now?

  • How do you think the main character feels in this book? How do you think your family feels about everyone growing up and getting older?

  • What other books have pictures that you really like?

  • Do you see the baby/woman/grandmother showing gratitude? In what ways?

Book Details

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