Small in the City

Product Information

On a snowy day in a big city, a little boy hops off a streetcar and walks through downtown, between office buildings, through parks and down busy streets. Along the way, he provides helpful tips about which alleys make good shortcuts, which trees to climb and where to find a friendly face. All the while, the boy searches for what he has lost … The content of this hard cover picture book offer some lovely observations – visual and textual. The initial four panels with silhouettes and blurred streets convey the sense of unease. A child roams around the city, encountering a range of scenarios and offers advice that may, or may not, be of comfort to a stranger in the town.

SMALL IN THE CITY by Sydney Smith - Picture Book Builders SMALL IN THE CITY by Sydney Smith - Picture Book Builders

As this is taking place, a winter storm arrives and steadily intensifies. At the conclusion of the child’s journey, a mother waits outside and greets the child with an affectionate hug. By this time, there is a healthy accumulation of snow. Edward Gorey was a master of ambiguity in the way he combined his text and the way he framed his images. Implying a gruesome death or a hideous crime is so much more impactful than just showing it. The darkness of his stories was also quite thrilling. Obviously, he wrote for himself. It must have created problems for his publishers when his mysteries were too gruesome to be marketed to children, but he answered to his own mind and the results were innovative and singular. A challenge can also drive you as an artist. What do you foresee as the next approach that may provide a creative risk for you? It may occur around the world but I have found there is a certain allergy to pride in the communities I grew up in. “Don’t get too big feelin’ ” translates to “Pride comes before a fall”. For the people of many rural communities, fortune is fleeting and not to be trusted. My grandmother often said “I didn’t ask for much and that’s just what I got”. It can be difficult at times to admit having goals and dreams. What’s even worse is when they come true.

Town Is by the Sea

The first picture book that the award-winning Sydney Smith has both written and illustrated is a story about feeling small in the city — and finding your way home. Setting descriptions, poems, diary entries, dialogue, letters of advice, lost posters Main Outcome:

Small in the City’ by Sydney Smith – Greenaway winner 2021 ‘Small in the City’ by Sydney Smith – Greenaway winner 2021

Four year old Charlie was too frightened by the illustrations to finish it, even when guided by his mother. He spent little time looking at the illustrations, and couldn’t relate to the text when it was read to him.

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As a human, it got me thinking about the habitual thought patterns that lead us in certain directions, sometimes based on incorrect assumptions. Both winning books are published by independent publishers. Look Both Ways delivers the first win for Knights Of, in its first year to have a longlisted title; Small in the City is the 16 th win for Walker Books (4 Carnegie Medals and 12 Kate Greenaway Medals), which had nine books featured in this year’s longlist. Independent publishers had a strong showing on this year’s longlist, with 29 of the 40 books coming from independent presses.