Surrey children’s author Sandip Sodhi has taken a different approach with her latest words-and-pictures book for very young readers.
Sodhi, who explored the whimsical with her previous volumes Ms. Chievus in the Classroom and affirmations of positive experiences in Talk to Me, What Do You See, provides a very personal recollection of her own childhood in Moments in Time – Memories of East Vancouver.
But, in sharing her own background, Sodhi, about to start another school year in her post as teacher-librarian at Sunnyside Elementary, hopes to inspire others to recollect their own childhoods, too.
Moments in Time – Memories of East Vancouver is a book about being a child of the 1970s and ’80s, as Sodhi was.
The text and deliberately washy watercolour illustrations, by Waheeda Tejani-Byron, are evocative of fading memories of the joyful and colourful sights and smells of neighbourhoods in East Vancouver.
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It was a time when children could ride their bikes without nervously hovering parents, Sodhi says. When washing dried on outdoor lines and neighbors were far more likely to gather to share homegrown fruits and vegetables and aspects of their many different cultures.
“I wonder what kids of today will look back on fondly?” she says.
“I remember these stories because I was mindful…life was simpler and the pace of life was slower. We had less items but more experiences.
“My hope is that we all learn to slow down and appreciate what we have in our lives.”
Sodhi suggests her book could work as a resource, particularly heading into the fall, as a starting point for classroom projects and discussions.
“(It) was written for the purpose of sharing memories and connecting current day stories with those of the past,” Sodhi says in her introduction.
“The style of this book…to read, pause and reminisce and then to question, will hopefully have you thinking about your favourite memories and then sharing them with your loved ones,” she adds.
Broadening its appeal, Moments in Time – Memories of East Vancouver is available in English through Amazon.ca ($39.71 hardback, $36.02 paperback), is also provided in English/Punjabi and French editions.
For information on ordering her books, visit sandipsodhi.com