Author/artist Dac Trung Tran recalls "the endless summers of [his] early years" in his Vietnam hometown in the resplendent picture book Remember. A boy awakes to a note left on his bedside table that begins, "Dear son, Mom is going to work early today." The letter goes on to offer a series of caring reminders: "Remember to speak loudly when ordering breakfast," "to water the plants," not to "get too distracted by snacks and toys," "to feed your mind... and to play." Most importantly, at the end of his adventures, "Remember Mom will be waiting for you."
Tran's vibrantly saturated illustrations fill every inch of all pages, bleeding to the edges as if emphasizing the unlimited possibilities of each day. The boy's comparative tiny size--in the market, the library, on the sidewalks and streets--underscores the expansiveness all around, waiting to be explored. "It is a child's unique ability to find wonder in even the most unremarkable corners of their world," Tran writes in his concluding author's note, also revealing that the Mom-notes are real "words and advice" his mother left for him. They "felt like rules to live by, but also incredibly tempting rules to break," which the protagonist eventually does, driven by utter kindness--Mom's admonition to "cover your head so you don't get wet," gets disregarded to protect a lone pup on the street... albeit with a library book! Tran concludes with a timeless reminder to young audiences: "embrace the dreaminess. Wherever they find it." --Terry Hong