Incredibly sweet and also philosophical. The illustrations are a delight! ( )

It is a book where fantasy and reality join together. It is full of imagination and uses a before and after theme. It uses the same sentence frame every time, Does a ______ remember it once was a ______. The story also rhymes. It includes pictures of a little boy and animals. It is about growing up and has a general theme of “What will you remember?” I could see reading this with primary or intermediate students; possibly even in a Senior English class when they are reflecting back to all of the previous memories of childhood, before graduating and entering the real world as adults. I would probably incorporate it into a writing lesson.

This was fantastic book. I liked how simple this book was, both the sentences and the words. The language is patterned, “Does a feather remember it once was… …a bird? Does a book remember… …it once was a word?” These sentence structures not only make it easy for beginner readers, but I like how it lets you guess what the object was previously. I like the illustrators because they give the readers clues about how the sentence will end if they are unsure. The illustrations are simple, just like the words. Each picture is only a snapshot of the scene, but it gives enough detail that the reader does not need to wonder what about the rest of the picture. The central message of this book is to not forget about the beginning. The author makes it obvious that something really big, usually started out small. For example, a word turns into a book, and a drop of rain turns into an ocean. ( )

I like the book “Once upon a Memory” for three reasons. First, the writing flows and is quick paced. The language is simplistic and patterned for young children. Each page starts with a question, with a small picture on the left side and a larger image on the right. For example, “Does a feather remember….it once was a bird?” There was an illustration of a feather, and then an image of birds. Second, the book pushes children to broaden their perspectives on life. The last question in the book is “Will you remember you once were a child?” I think this makes children think about their lives. Finally, the last page of the book is a list of favorite moments to remember. The list is very sentimental and could start many conversations with children. The big idea of this book is to get children to think about where things come from. ( )

I really enjoyed reading this book because of the great illustrations, the many lessons that it could teach a child, and because of the personal element at the end. This book depicted a boy who was asking different things if they remember what they were before. This was a really good way to introduce before and after to some children and it also had a rhyming tone while reading. The illustrations throughout were really amazing and the color that was used I believe really fit the tone of the story. they were not bright colors but more muted which fit the calm tone of the story. I also really enjoyed the list at the end of the book that asked the reader something things that they may remember doing with someone like painting pictures or baking with their mom. I thought this was a really personal touch that drew the readers in. Asking the child to look at the world in a different way around them and remember what something once was added a really interesting element to an already great book. ( )