Book review: My Favorite Memories by Sepideh Sarihi

Book review of My Favorite Memories

Written by Sepideh Sarihi

Illustrated by Julie Völk

Translated by Elisabeth Lauffer

Published by Blue Dot Kids Press

I love this book! I can't wait to share it with students. They are going to love to start shouting about how you can't put trees or people or furniture inside of bottles. This very short picture book has just enough information to setup the story, but leaves a ton of room for kids' imaginations. The contrast between the detailed, fine-lined, rather mature style of the illustrations with the simple, naive, extremely childlike point of view of the text is so charming. I could easily see this book being used for creative writing lesson launches, for art lessons, or simply as a fun palate cleanser read-aloud when everyone is bored of school rules and needs a way to break out and capture some fresh wonderment.

The narrative opens briskly, dropping us right into the middle of the story, as the unnamed main character learns that she will be moving to another country. Her problem becomes apparent only a few sentences later, as she attempts to pack her favorite things in her small suitcase that will fit on the airplane. As she mulls over her problem at the oceanside (another favorite thing), she comes up with an ingenious solution. We don't learn this solution until two pages later, and when the book ends shortly after that revelation, our main character is still patiently waiting for her bottles to arrive.

This book is short enough that no reader is going to feel "cheated" by the resolution, and many students are going to fall in love with the trick. The setting is suggested, very subtly, through clues in the illustrations, suggesting where our main character may be moving from, and to, with architectural and botanical hints (domes, arches, tiled roofs, mango trees, shingled roofs, weather vanes, pine trees).

What a fun and whimsical book! Picture book, grades K-3.

Thank you to Deborah Sloan & Blue Dot Kids Press for the gifted book and to Multicultural Children's Book Day for the opportunity to participate in this event.

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