Marie-Louise Gay turns back the clock on her popular redheaded heroine with When Stella Was Very, Very Small. Although she can’t yet “open doors, look through keyholes or even tie her shoes,” Stella has grand adventures in her living room and backyard, ascending sofa mountaintops and enduring fierce windstorms in her desert sandbox with her trusty dog by her side. Gay’s delightfully airy watercolours and simple storyline are endearing, and young readers will be encouraged by Stella’s achievements as a small person in a large world. mRb