How Old Am I?1 - 100
Faces From Around the World
Review posted November 27, 2024.
Phaidon Press, 2021. 216 pages.
Review written July 28, 2021, from a library book.
Starred Review
The concept of this book is very easy to explain. The execution of the concept is utterly delightful.
This book shows the faces of one hundred people from all over the world. Each one is a different age. The faces are presented in order of age, featuring the 1-year-old first and the 100-year-old last.
The questions the participants are asked are presented at the front of the book. (I actually didn’t notice this at first, but I got the idea quickly anyway.) Here are the questions:
Hello! [The person answers in their own language.]
What is your name?
How old are you?
Where do you live? Where were you born? [A small map features these places. A very large variety of places are presented.]
What makes you happy? What is your wish for the world? No matter how old we are or where we live, we each have a story to tell. What’s yours?
The section answering those last questions is short, but there’s lots that can be conveyed. Here are a few examples:
Here’s how 6-year-old Noam answered:
I am super excited about my next birthday – I wish it was today! I am proud because I already know how to read, dance, and go to sleepovers. When I’m 18, I want to be the President of America. Chocolate is what makes me happy. I wish the whole world was made of chocolate and that when you want to eat some chocolate, you can just take it from the walls around you. Chocolate is what makes everybody happy.
34-year-old Maria, from Russia, says:
When I was little I thought anything was possible. I still believe this now! When I was around 5 to 8, I had a wild imagination. I could be a princess one day, or a firefighter or teacher another. I’m still interested in different lives and now have a job making documentaries – movies that show the world around us and the lives of real people. I learn about all kinds of people in different places – from Tokyo to California, from Norway to Madagascar.
And 57-year-old Safarina from Indonesia:
It doesn’t matter how old I am, I always look forward to my next birthday. At 27 I got married, at 28 I had my first baby girl, and at 38 I had my baby boy and finished my studies, so all of those ages mean a lot to me. I am a scientist now, but before that I was a veterinarian, helping animals. I really like working as a scientist because it is exciting and unique. My family, my work, and music make me happy in life.
79-year-old Rafael, from Slovenia, says:
I started going to school when I was 7. Our school was small, old, and made of wood. We didn’t have heating or toilets, and the teachers were very strict. But home was a warm place. I had my parents and my siblings and a cherry tree that was my hideaway. I used to do my homework and studying in my tree. Later I moved to the city and learned to fix and make electrical tools and equipment. I am really proud of my job, and even at my age, I still work.
The last person featured in the book is 100-year-old Beatrice from the USA. She says:
I was a sickly child with a heart problem, and I was allergic to everything, which meant I wasn’t able to run around. When I was 7, I found the local library. I still love to read, and for the last ten years I have been a library volunteer. I never dreamed to be this age. It’s an amazing experience. I am healthy and well, I don’t walk with a cane, and I live alone. That’s not common at my age and something to be grateful for.
These quotations give you a taste, but the full experience comes with the large pictures of their smiling faces and the greetings in so many languages.
The graphic design of the book is also done well, with each person featured with a background slowly going through all the colors of the rainbow. The 1-year-old has a yellow background and so does the 100-year-old, but they’ve gone through all possible shades as the pages change slightly with each turn.
At the back, we’ve got information about the artist who created The Inside Out Project, putting large photos of people on buildings across the world. This book came out of that project. I love the way it includes people from all over the world as a result. This book is truly a delightful experience.