Do You Remember?

A boy and his mum are sharing memories in the dark. The first – a picnic in a grassy field – is full of warmth and light, but then the boy remembers falling off his bike. Mum asks him about a scary storm – ‘you called out for me, but you couldn’t find me’ – and what started as a game develops an uneasy edge. Mum and the boy are camped out in a city room, surrounded by possessions that we know belong elsewhere. Are they lost, or having an adventure? And why did they leave Dad?

Changes can be positive, and the boy recognises this. ‘Can we make this a memory, too’, he asks. But his suggestion hangs unanswered in the sleepy darkness, and whether the new memories they make will be full of hope is left unclear.

Twice winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal, Sydney Smith is known for his light-infused, spare and emotionally charged artwork. Whole worlds of meaning are created from a gesture, glance or object. Here, vignettes depict the fleeting (and often sensory) essence of the memories being discussed, until enough has been captured to fuel a full-page spread. These are interspersed with intimate, nighttime portraits of the duo, and on every spread we are able to take the text at face value or read the artwork for a more challenging or nuanced view.

Precisely crafted around a moment of transition (which may be good or bad, or both), this affecting book brings words and images together in ways that seem simpler than they are. The clarity and power of Smith’s images make them relatively easy to interpret – children won’t have to work too hard to decide what’s going on, or feel the emotional punch. But there is depth here, too: multiple interpretations are always possible, and as well as being a great book to share with younger audiences, Do You Remember? would also make a rich starting point for creative projects and discussions with older readers.