Do You Remember?

Written and illustrated by Sydney Smith

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-986-9

40 pp.

Ages 3-6

October 2023

 

Remembering someone who is gone, whether through death, divorce, or moving, is a mix of grief and comfort. It's remembering the good times but never forgetting that loss. Do You Remember? is the sensory experience of a young boy and his mother remembering times when his father was still with them.

From Do You Remember?, written and illus. by Sydney Smith

Lying in bed in the dark, a mother asks her son whether he remembers a picnic in a field. She recalls the bugs and snakes the child looked for, but he remembers the sweet berries. They continue to trade remembrances, always asking, "Do you remember..." He recalls when his parents gave him his bicycle and he lost control, falling into a haypile. Then she recalls "the rainstorm" of the hard rain and leaking roof, thunder and lightning, and then the loss of power which led to the burning of Grandpa's old oil lamp.

From Do You Remember?, written and illus. by Sydney Smith

With each memory, there is that beginning idea, and then a multitude of vignettes involved in that memory. Perhaps most significant for them is when they left their home behind, and travelled further than they ever had, and got lost. That's the memory but the vignettes shows us the boy's dad handing him a teddy bear through the truck's open window, then waving to them, and the child holding the bear as they enter traffic and get lost. The memory is not just one of leaving: it is one of carrying boxes, a dad's face, a dad's wave, the many cars, watching from the back seat, holding his bear, and then seeing the source of all those memories stacked against the wall in their new place. The bear, the oil lamp, the bicycle, the picnic blanket–they're all there.

But do their memories have to remain in the past? Or are there new memories to be made?

A memory may be but a moment in time but it's a complex amalgamation of spoken words, foods tasted, textures touched, emotions felt, and images processed. It's seeing and feeling everything and incorporating them into a memory. It could be a sad memory or a joyous one, but it's all wrapped up and available to return the one remembering to another time and place. But, as Sydney Smith demonstrates, these memories are just part of the whole, of the past and future, of good times gone and future experiences still to be had. And loss and pain can play with those memories. In the case of this child and his mother, there has been a separation of his parents, and the consequent moving to a new home. Whatever rift has contributed to his parents' separation, his mother encourages him to remember times with his dad. She has not put her animosity, if she has any, ahead of the needs of her child. Instead, she encourages him to remember and to share in his remembrances too. There is tenderness in their exchange, understanding that there may be hurt below the surface and caution to not create more discomfort. They are tentative but honest, and that sincerity obviously comes from love.

Sydney Smith's illustrations, primarily watercolour and gouache, show a sensitivity for what the family is going through while demonstrating the strength of connection between mother and child even under these circumstances. They neither ignore nor rail at their heartache for their losses of father, husband, home, and established family. They look back but still forward. There is darkness–they are speaking at night in bed in their new apartment–but there are moments of lightness both in the past and in their future–as the child opens the window to the light–and Sydney Smith gives them that in his soft and thoughtful art.

From Do You Remember?, written and illus. by Sydney Smith

Sydney Smith dedicates this book to his mom, and his words and art honour parents who must move forward with a different family configuration. This mother, and undoubtedly many others, had to find ways to help their children accept new circumstances while not giving up on everything from the past. They remember and are loving enough to ensure their children do too.

Pebbles to the Sea

Written by Marie-Andrée Arsenault
Illustrated by Dominique Leroux
Translated by Shelley Tanaka
Groundwood Books
978-1-77306-824-4
40 pp.

Ages 3-6
October 2022

 

Les Îles de la Madeleine, a Quebec archipelago, is a truly unique maritime community in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. And La Grave, a heritage site on les Îles de la Madeleine, is the center of life for sisters Flo and Fée. It is quiet and lively, a solitude and a community, and it is home. 

From Pebbles to the Sea by Marie-Andrée Arsenault, illus. by Dominique Leroux

On a gray day, the two girls are told to stay put as their parents, separated in marriage and residence, head to work: Papa to the marina, and Maman to her workshop. Along the shore, Flo and Fée collect pebbles and decorate them with bits of colour. But, when a dot flies across the sky, they know it's Henri using his giant trebuchet and venture away to investigate, leaving their coloured pebbles to mark their path. They pass the marina, and then the café where Jean-Marc plays the piano that makes them dance. While they eat a large piece of three-layer cake, Jean-Marc heads out with a pot of paint.

From Pebbles to the Sea by Marie-Andrée Arsenault, illus. by Dominique Leroux

Another dot across the sky and Flo and Fée continue on their journey, stopping to visit with artist Francine at her shop, and admire her art that reflects their community, including Maman's house and Papa's, and share in her ice cream. Francine too takes off with a pot of paint and a brush as the two girls leave another pebble and move on. At Henri's giant trebuchet, the girls look out over the water and islands and learn of the ice bridge that once connected their own island–Havre-Aubert–with l'île de'Entrée.

The bridge between the two islands can never be broken, the same way you two will always link your mother and father.

When the two finally are returned home by their parents, there is a surprise for them that could only come from the many who united as one for them. 

 

Though artist Dominique Leroux gives Pebbles to the Sea a cool and damp feel, appropriate for a maritime landscape in which lined rubber books, thick woolen tights and hats are needed for outdoor play, the story is one of warmth and community. Marie-Andrée Arsenault's words, translated with honesty and heart by Shelley Tanaka, gives the story that spirit, even as the girls recognize the separation that is part of their family now. Still, they are reminded by everyone that they are part of something bigger. They are part of a community that will teach them, feed them, entertain them and watch over them. And they will do it with colour and affection.  The illustrations, multi-media created with paint and collage of photos, torn paper and lace, may mirror the same, seeming to be pervasively cool, as the girls might feel their circumstances may be, but brightened with colour and textures that cheer.

Des Couleurs sur la Grave (2019), the original French-language edition of Pebbles to the Sea, won the 2020 Le Prix Harry Black de l'album jeunesse for the best French-language Canadian picture book for children. Pebbles to the Sea will now introduce La Grave, les Îles de la Madeleine and creators Marie-Andrée Arsenault and Dominique Leroux to English-language young readers and perhaps reassure them that parental separation is not necessarily familial separation, and that family can go beyond the nuclear family.  Like Jean-Marc says of La Grave, Pebbles to the Sea is "the perfect playground for a happy life."

From Pebbles to the Sea by Marie-Andrée Arsenault, illus. by Dominique Leroux

Weekend Dad

Written by Naseem Hrab

Illustrated by Frank Viva

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-108-5

36 pp.

Ages 4-7

May 2020

My dad says I have two homes now.

Though TV and movies may play up the drama involved with parental separation, Weekend Dad tells how bittersweet it may be for children who live between households. It's not the joy of double houses and playing off one parent against the other. It can be hard and it can be sad. From Naseem Hrab's poignant words to Frank Viva's affective artwork, Weekend Dad is the real story behind a separation within a family.

From Weekend Dad by Naseem Hrab, illus. by Frank Viva

The story starts on a Monday morning when "my dad moved out  of our house and into an apartment." Each day that follows the child is reminded of his dad, whether it's the colour of his hair or his tears at a hamster's death or that he hates tuna fish.

From Weekend Dad by Naseem Hrab, illus. by Frank Viva

But when Friday night comes and it's time for the weekend with his dad, a new reality begins. It's taking a bus to an apartment which is home but not home. And though he has his hedgehog stuffie Wendell, it's different and things makes him feel scared.

From Weekend Dad by Naseem Hrab, illus. by Frank Viva

Their Saturday is filled with new routines from eating eggs for breakfast, playing cards and going to the park, all repeated Sunday. But when it's time to leave, the child is mindful of each parent being alone without him. Still this child must reconcile that his father will not be coming in when dropping him off and to that end, Dad hands him a touching letter about how much he loves him and is always with him.

...you will hear your dad's heart beat, and with each beat, you will hear the words: "You are loved." No instrument can pick this tiny pulse up except for your own heart and imagination.

This is a story of reality but with heart. Mom and Dad aren't going to find their way back to each other. (And Naseem Hrab makes sure not to place blame on either parent or make the story about their relationship. This is all about the child.) Dad's apartment is rather sparse but he's working to make it more for his son.  Naseem Hrab's text from the child's perspective is similarly stark as the situation probably is for any child experiencing a separation within the family. It is what it is. The boy doesn't overthink but he does take it for what it is right now: complex, confusing, and harsh. The only relief is in the dad's words, words that he undoubtedly took time to compose, and which touch with their affection and concern.

From Weekend Dad by Naseem Hrab, illus. by Frank Viva

Between the muted tones of olive drab, rose brown, grey and yellow and the ever-present scribbles of cloud and smoke, Frank Viva's artwork does not divert from Naseem Hrab's text. The upheaval and the austerity of the circumstances are reflected in Frank Viva's ink and digitally coloured illustrations. With few colours and an economy of shape, Frank Viva conveys what this child sees and feels, and it is bleak. But things will change, and Naseem Hrab's final words, having father and son heading off to buy a bed, and Frank Viva's last double spread, a little brighter in colour and alive with activity, indicate things are going to be okay.

Sapphire the Great and the Meaning of Life

Written by Beverley Brenna

Illustrated by Tara Anderson

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-069-7

128 pp.

Ages 7-10

February 2019

Finding one’s own purpose in life is not an easy task and one which many of us never find. Imagine being a hamster in a cage in a pet store and wondering about what life holds for you. Is it just anticipating fresh bedding? Is it waiting for extra peanuts? Is it to find a forever home? Is it to be free?  But with the hamster’s adoption by nine-year-old Jeannie, the hamster, first known as Harvey Owens and then Sapphire, looks for that meaning and finds it with the help of a rich collection of characters and a few nibbles on fingers.

Told in the alternating voices of Sapphire and Jeannie, Beverley Brenna begins Sapphire the Great and the Meaning of Life with a long-awaited trip to the pet store for Jeannie’s promised Christmas gift of a hamster.  Though the visit almost doesn’t happen as Jeannie’s mother deems her daughter’s behaviour at the mall as inappropriate, Jeannie picks out the white hamster with the navy blue eyes and purchases all the materials to make his home perfect. But the hamster, whom she originally names Harvey Owens after her father who has moved out of the house, is frightened by the new sounds, smells and temperatures and lashes out by biting, even more so after they are involved in a car accident. Jeannie, who is dealing with her own stresses that include not being heard, a father who seems to be off with a new life and a mother struggling with two young children and trying to deal with her own grief and anger about her marriage, recognizes that the little guy bites when scared or surprised, and helps educate all who come near him to be considerate. And since he is such a great comfort to all of them–Jeannie, her brother Alistair, her mom and others–once they learn how to be kind to him, he has much to offer them back. And it makes no difference when he is identified as a her.

Sapphire the Great and the Meaning of Life is far greater than a story about a girl getting a pet hamster. It’s about struggling to find your place. Jeannie is a pretty good caregiver for Sapphire but she’s trying to figure out why her father isn’t keeping in touch, whether her parents are “getting put back together” (pg. 40), why her little brother seems stressed, how to be a friend, why her Mom’s new friend Anna Conda seems reserved though really cool, and the questions that kids want answered but no one will respect them enough to tell them the truth. Meanwhile Sapphire is recognizing how nice her new home is, singing when pleased, and beginning to understand freedom, especially after a dangerous escape outdoors in frigid January.

It seems to me that Free is just a little bit too big to think about for very long. (pg. 67)

It’s perfect that Jeannie’s story and Sapphire’s come together to become something bigger and better. Just as the two are better for having each other in their lives, Beverley Brenna’s text is enhanced with the adorable illustrations by Tara Anderson which head each of the forty-two chapters. Her pencil sketches of Sapphire make up the majority of these illustrations and show the little hamster eating, playing, sleeping, hiding and just being all-around cute. I had some trepidation about an animal story, especially one which begins in a pet store, but Tara Anderson’s charming artwork reassured me that Sapphire’s story would turn out well.

A perfect early reader for kids who love animals, Sapphire the Great and the Meaning of Life is actually more about giving significance to managing our own stories. It may require a nip or a bite or some yelling to be heard, or perhaps a snuggle or a quiet voice might be in order, but it's about finding the meaning of your own life, even if only for the time being.

From Sapphire the Great and the Meaning of Life by Beverley Brenna,               illustrated by Tara Anderson

NemeSIS

Written by Susan Marshall
Blue Moon Publishers
978-1-988279-32-3
204 pp.
Ages 13+
April 2017

I know that sisters can be as close as best friends (I have a wonderful younger sister who is just this for me).  Sisters can be there to support you through familial strife and guide you through the uncertainties of growing up.  As the middle of three sisters, I know what can be but I also know what is.  Susan Marshall’s debut YA novel, as the name suggests, is about that tenuous relationship between sisters, a mixed bag of bullying and bond.

With her parents going through a marital separation, fifteen-year-old Nadine could certainly use the support of her older sister, Rachel.  But seventeen-year-old Rachel is too egocentric to see anything, including her parents’ separation, in any terms other than those related to her. Between her parents' separation, and Mom establishing a new life as a realtor, and Rachel vacillating (can you say moody?) between kind and cruel, Nadine needs someone in her corner.

“Like Voldemort, Rachel was a monster of the dark arts.” (pg. 41)

While trying to avoid Rachel’s wrath, like the dumping of ice water on Nadine while she sleeps and plugging her nose with a clothespin (painful!), Nadine begins to adopt a plan of steps, similar to the AA twelve-step program, to help “dig herself out of the hole she was in.” (pg.  18) Undertaking to become part of the school and make a friend, she meets Anne Lavery,  new to Elgin High School, and younger sister of wildly popular senior Matt Lavery and his twin Cameron.  With that one step, Nadine’s life expands to include a lunch buddy, a love interest,

“Cameron was the sun, and I was this speck of intergalactic dust being pulled toward him, close enough to bask in the warmth of his rays but not so close as to get burned” (pg. 35)

and a place on the field hockey team where she meets a new friend Mei.  But while Nadine’s relationship with Anne brings many positives into her life, it also draws Rachel’s attention.  Not surprising that the manipulative Rachel uses her sister’s friendship with Anne to get close to Matt but Rachel can’t decide whether to cultivate her relationship with Nadine to her own end or threaten the girl about keeping mum about her bullying of Nadine.  And what Nadine learns is that bullying is bullying, whether it is by a sister, a team mate or an opponent, and avoidance is not an effective option.

As a reader, I often wonder whether all writers have first hand knowledge of that which they write.  I’m pretty sure Susan Marshall knows something about sibling bullying, though she tempers the viciousness that can be had at the hands of an older sister.  Still, the psychological torment of bullying and trauma inflicted by Rachel, and other bullies in the story, are very real and impactful, and Susan Marshall makes it clear that dealing with bullies does not have one solution.  The confusion of dealing with a bully who could turn kind or cruel in a split second may be rationalized by mental health issues but the care with which they select when, where and how to inflict that cruelty suggests a psychopathy beyond moodiness.  I think Nadine is far more generous with her sister than other bullies and more than Rachel deserves but it’s amazing what you can forgive family.  Susan Marshall conveys all that mixed up turmoil of shame, anger, resolve,  and expectancy convincingly and still provides a guarantee that things can and do get better.  It may not be fast enough or easily enough for many victims of  bullying, sibling or otherwise, but when you have a NemeSIS, it’s a long-standing relationship that can come to an end with a shocking bang like it does for Mei and her bully, or a soft closing of a door, perhaps as it will be with Nadine and Rachel.  Go with the door.  It hurts less.