Do You Remember?

by Sydney Smith

Overview

From the author/artist of the multiple award-winning of Small in the City comes an innovative and moving look at memories, filtered through the mind of a child.

Can you hear the morning wind in the trees?
Can you feel the snowflakes landing on your wrist?
Can you taste the sweetness of the warm berries?
Can you hear the Spring peepers singing from the frog pond?

Using a series of descriptions and the luscious pictures that accompany them, a boy describes the memories that are so meaningful to him as he is about to move into a new home. With an audacious structure and brief, self-contained episodes, Sydney Smith takes us into the mind of the boy as he processes the complex emotions that he experiences as he contemplates his new surroundings.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823442621
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	10/03/2023
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	236,079
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Sydney Smith is the author and illustrator of Small in the City, which received eight starred reviews and a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators. Other books he has illustrated include The White Cat and the Monk by Jo Ellen Bogart; Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson; and Town Is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz, which was awarded the 2018 Kate Greenaway Medal. His accolades include two Governor General's Awards for Illustrated Children's Books and four New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year citations. His book I Talk Like a River, written by Jordan Scott, has received five starred reviews. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/21/2023

Smith (My Baba’s Garden) opens this story of remembrance as a pale-skinned adult and child awaken, lying next to each other, open-eyed in the dark. As the pages turn, limpid dialogue and tender, light-filled vignettes show the two taking refuge in shared memories. “Do you remember,” the adult begins, “when we had a picnic in the field?” Sunny scenes show the child searching among daisies “for snakes and bugs” while the sun shines down on the two and a bearded father. A page turn reveals an unexpected prize found by the youth: a handful of wild berries. The duo share more memories—the child learning to ride a bicycle, a rainstorm that knocked out the power—before moving closer to a present in which the father no longer seems to be around (“Do you remember... leaving our home behind?”). Without freighting this portrait of change with context, Smith reveals the two creating a new memory for themselves: the first morning in their new home (“We could smell the bakery from across the street”). It’s a loving familial portrait that envisions intentionality around the process of memory-making. Ages 4–8. Agent: Emily Van Beek, Folio Literary. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"A master of mood. . . Smith shows that, at any age, shared memories like theirs can help tilt the balance from present-day fearfulness to hope for the future. So can this book."— The New York Times
 
"Meditative and moving. . . Mr. Smith has a remarkable talent for capturing light in his paintings, so that even in depicting scenes of melancholy he brings to them a kind of redemptive luminosity."—The Wall Street Journal
 
"A sweet story about recognizing in a moment that the moment is going to be a core memory."—Smithsonian Magazine

★ "The author delicately and triumphantly creates a book worth remembering. . . Readers and listeners alike will be heartened by the lesson of using memories from the past to envision dreams for the future."—School Library Journal, Starred Review

★ "This hushed and deeply tender story will spark many conversations."—The Horn Book, Starred Review
 
★ "Strong emotion is conveyed through effective illustrations and book design. . .  The undertone of sadness is ever present but so is the feeling of hope. The design and details in the illustrations ask readers to proceed slowly, think beyond what is stated, and construct their own interpretations of story and memory."—Booklist, Starred Review

★ "A loving familial portrait that envisions intentionality around the process of memory-making."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
 
★ "An immensely satisfying glimpse of a family’s ability to navigate challenges through honest conversation and mutual support."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"Sydney Smith beautifully captures all the fear and hope that comes with change in this heartfelt picture book about remembering and starting anew." —BookPage

From the Publisher

★ 11/01/2023

K-Gr 3—The eyes on the book jacket tell it all, capturing the bluish-gray irises of a young boy clearly in retrospect. Readers' minds are transfixed by the world of this boy, wondering what thoughts are behind his eyes, while their hearts prepare to engage with the book's characters. The panels within the book frame the thoughts of the mother and son in bed remembering times gone by. The pink words on a page chronicle the mother's precious, unforgettable memories of their family; additionally, the son's words in blue express his response to her specific memory, which in turn, allows him to articulate one of his own. The picnic with Dad, the new birthday bicycle, and moving to a new city renders a story of loss of items and loved ones, and genuinely embraces a new beginning. The story flows from frames to full-page art, denoting life's ebbs and restorations. Mother and son choose the sensible response to loss; remembering the good times enables them to move forward with hope. The last image of the boy's eyes expressing new memories are on the horizon as the sunlight brightens a new day. The author delicately and triumphantly creates a book worth remembering, with a relatable topic for families and school-age children who also may be suffering loss. VERDICT Although not a happy or popular topic, the subject matter and time of year make this more than worthy of consideration. Readers and listeners alike will be heartened by the lesson of using memories from the past to envision dreams for the future.—Tanya Haynes

School Library Journal

★ 2023-07-13
A parent and child share memories during their first day in a new home.

Hands, feet, faces. Close-ups of these body parts indicate proximity of child to parent in this quietly affecting story of separation and change. The book opens on two light-skinned faces wreathed with dark hair snuggled into bed pillows. The color of the text indicates the speaker (pink for the parent, blue for the child). Each episode begins with parent or child asking the titular question, and as time shifts between present and past, the design goes from double-page spreads to square, sequential panels, allowing Smith to home in on details: the parents sitting on a blue checkered picnic blanket in the hazy sunshine as the child presents berries; the child riding a bicycle before crashing, laughing, into a haystack; Grandpa’s lantern—its glow contrasting with the darkness the night the power went out. As in Smith’s previous stories, sensory descriptions beautifully gird the emotions of the visual narrative, and a sensitive caretaker and child face challenges with loving attention to one another. The parent and child recall how they got lost driving to the new dwelling; the child handed the parent the teddy bear that Dad—who hasn’t come with them—had given them. Gazing out the apartment window at dawn, surrounded by these familiar objects, the child wonders if this “magic” moment will also be a memory one day. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An immensely satisfying glimpse of a family’s ability to navigate challenges through honest conversation and mutual support. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews