Remember by Dac Trung Tran is due February 2025. I was able to locate an online reader copy. Now, I am not completely sure if I will find a finished copy early next year, but I do know I will be recommending it. And that is despite, or because of, I am not completely sure what was read!
I could tell you that it is about a book who wakes up to find his mother has left for work, and she has left him a note for the chores he needs to do. But he skips out and roams around the city. However, there is more. The things she mentions can also guide and shape his life as he is out and about in the world. It is also a reminder that the child is not alone and their mother is there even if he cannot see her. And it is about that, but there is also something under the surface, something deeper. There is something poetic. And that poetic tone shows in the whimsical, but also real illustrations. Things are soft, but there are edges. And you take away from it what you put into it. And each time you read, you probably will find something new.
I have already given Remember two reads and know a third should take place as well. The same goes for Troll by Frances Stickley.
While Troll is lighter in looks and even the story, it is still a serious subject. Troll is a troll. Not just physically but they like to be mean to others. They scare those who try to cross the bridge, they say mean things about everyone, and he likes to be alone. But then when one of those victims follows the path to his door, he learns something very special. He realizes that being a bully isn’t as fun when he has to face them head on. And that being a friend might be more fun.
Stefano Martinuz’s sweet and silly illustrations allow a tough subject to be talked about in a not so scary format. They are colorful and help show us that while sometimes being a troll physically is pretty nifty, being a personality troll is not. While available, I read via an online readers copy.