Small in the City by Sydney Smith - ESSENTIAL

Small in the City by Sydney Smith. PICTURE BOOK. Neal Porter (Holiday House), 2019. $19. ISBN 978-0-8234-4261-4

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3)  – ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

A young child rides a bus, disembarks, and then starts talking about what it’s like to be small in a city as she (gender unclear) walks around. Bundled up in winter clothing, the narrator describes, for example, how different city noises can make your brain feel too full. Then the child starts offering advice. He shares insights about some places he knows, such as an alley, a yard with dogs, a church full of music. As the weather gets snowier, it slowly becomes apparent that the child is talking to someone other than the reader, until she hangs up a lost cat sign, making it clear exactly who she is addressing.

Each reading offers new insights into the feelings depicted in this deceptively simple story. Some pages are wordless, some have multiple panels, but every spread, with or without words or panels, pulls you along as if you are there, walking with the child. If you have ever lived in a big city, you’ll enjoy this child’s perspective of the city, and will appreciate how it would feel to lose a beloved pet there, during a winter storm. If you’ve never had the opportunity to live in a big city, read this book. It will give you that amazing gift, which good books do so well, of experiencing something new without ever leaving your chair.

P.K. Foster, MLS, elementary school teacher-librarian