A graphic novel without pretension, When I Was a Kid is a collection of black and white drawings and handwritten narratives that depict short stories from a kid’s formative years growing up in Malaysia — stories of surviving school, siblings, and parents — when the world was indeed, seen as simply black and white.

Dedicated to the forgotten child in all of us, these tales of imaginary heroes, lies adults like to tell children, and the dangerous mix of boredom with curiosity appeal to anyone who might long for a more innocent time when, as little kids, we all had stories we promised never to tell our parents.