I recently learned that I had not read all of David Shannon’s David books, so I picked up Grow Up, David! (2018) from the library. Like the other David books, this one is wonderful. It is easy to see why No, David! won a Caldecott Honor in 1998, and why Shannon would return to this same world.
In fact, there’s a direct link between this book and No, David!, one that goes beyond featuring the same character. The first illustrated page reads “David’s big brother always said…No, David!” The earlier book had focused on David’s parents telling him no, mainly for doing things that were wild, destructive, and/or socially unacceptable (but always amusing). This book focuses on David tagging along after his big brother, who tells him in various ways “You’re too little” and to stop following him.
David, of course, continues to be David: he is the spirit of irrepressible chaos. He plays tricks, he plays in the toilets, he gorges himself on his brother’s Halloween candy, and all of this is communicated through Shannon’s immediately recognizable illustrations, which are well-designed enough to show an adult drew them but are otherwise the ideal version of children’s art (as David is the ideal mischievous child).
Mostly, this book is a logical extension of No, David! but there is one bit of a twist. The book starts with David wanting to play football with his older brother and his friends, and being turned away for being too little. It ends with the older boys finally inviting David to play–and David getting hit so hard he ends up on the grass, still for once and perhaps unconscious. It may be the only time in all of the books his gaping mouth is small and his spirit is dimmed.
Fortunately, he’s David, and so he’s up on the next page.
The story here is limited–more of a series of wild David antics than a full plot–but who cares? With David and these illustrations? Amazing.
