"It'll Be Okay" Winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal
* Review *
"It'll Be Okay" is a book that evokes forgotten memories and immerses readers in a surprisingly special way by telling a very ordinary story.
This work clearly shows what it is like to live as a small being in a huge city.
Despite its understated tone, the film resonates deeply with themes of being lost, alone, and unnoticed, leading to a moving conclusion.
It's a stunning and emotional example of artistic storytelling, almost cinematic in its depiction of striking cityscapes through the eyes of a child.


*Acceptance Speech*
We live in a moment in history where we are forced to keep a safe distance from one another.
Around the world, people are isolating themselves, social distancing, and taking other measures to navigate this crisis.
It's a very difficult journey, but we're on this journey together.
Many of us are alone or have to spend time away from friends or loved ones.
So now more than ever, the stories we share are important.
Because stories connect us across the inevitable barriers we face today.
Stories are ageless, they ground us and connect us to one another.
It can provide a magical escape or just a little bit of giggles.
Like friends who keep in touch, stories convey the emotions we need.
'You are not alone.
'It'll be okay,' he said.

"It'll Be Okay" shows a child's journey through the cityscape.
It's an emotional journey where the loss of a friend comes to the forefront.

This book does not end comfortably.
But like all worthwhile journeys, it ends with a hug.
I think it's the most beautiful reward you can find at the end of a difficult journey.
A promise to reunite with friends and laugh and hug with loved ones.
The fact that we got through this together.
And it was really worth it.”
https://bit.ly/3h3YQm4

Encouragement for small beings living in a vast world

On a cold, snowy winter day, a child gets off a bus and enters the middle of the city.
As he passes towering skyscrapers and bustling crowds, the child says, "I know what it's like to be small in this city."
People either don't see the little 'me' or they pass by indifferently, pretending not to see it.
At the crosswalk, taxis honk their horns, and at the construction site, the thumping sound never stops.
People passing by don't notice how threatening that indifference, that noise, is to the child.
The child takes each step carefully in the huge and noisy city center.
The bustling street scene makes my head spin, but I keep repeating to myself, “It’ll be okay,” like a mantra.
And tell someone what you know about this city.


After you pass the main road, there is a shortcut.
But it's better not to go into alleys that are too dark.
You should also avoid going towards a building that has three large dogs in the front yard.
Because the dogs chase each other and growl at each other.
Cities aren't all scary and avoidable places.
There are also mulberry bushes that are great for hiding in for a while, and vents that let out warm air.
It smells like midsummer there.
The park also has a child-friendly chair.
I sometimes meet friends there.
The child, who was whispering around the city, stopped in front of a streetlight and took something out of his bag.
The telephone poles in the residential area, the entrance to the fish shop, the barbed wire fence in the vacant lot… … In fact, the child stuck pink paper everywhere he went.
The paper says that he is looking for his precious cat.
The child braves his fears and embarks on an adventure into the city to find his lost cat.
I was constantly reminding myself that I knew how you felt and that it would be okay, as I compared myself to a cat wandering around an unfamiliar city.
Through the voice of a child, the author encourages small beings as they take one step at a time into an unfamiliar and vast world.
To the children who will have to stand on their own feet one day, and to those who are courageously standing on their own feet, I warmly tell them that they may be scared and anxious, but they will be okay.
Meanwhile, the fishmonger who listened to the child's words and allowed the cat-finding poster to be put up at the entrance of the store, and the family who came to pick the child up, conveyed warm comfort.
When you're tired and worn out, there's sure to be someone you can lean on or a place to rest somewhere in this world.
There are times when everyone's steps toward the world become heavy.
At times like these, I hope you look at this book and gently reassure yourself or the person next to you, saying, "It'll be okay."


A beautiful picture book featuring Sydney Smith's signature sensuous direction.

Sydney Smith is a brilliant illustrator who enhances the strengths of the text.
But through this work, he proved that he is no less than a storyteller.
Authors have always said that readers who venture into unfamiliar stories should be rewarded accordingly.
The author's unique way of making directing that subtly defies readers' expectations and makes them anticipate the next story by appropriately utilizing scene division and arrangement is also a unique signature of the author.

This kind of sensuous directing also stands out in “It’ll Be Okay.”
The direction of the first scene, which follows the cover with a close-up of a child's face on a bus, is like that.
The author takes the reader on a journey with the child by showing the child's face in backlit shadow and the cityscape beyond the cloudy car in four frames.
Also, in the latter part, where the reason why the child is wandering the streets is revealed through the image of the child putting up a poster looking for a cat, the text is boldly omitted and only images are displayed at length, leaving room for the reader to interpret.
Sydney Smith masterfully masters this art of tempo even in his first writings.
The subtle sentences, which seem like a child's monologue or a message to someone, continue to stimulate the reader's curiosity.
Imagine the following scenario and keep yourself immersed from the first page to the last without letting up.


We look forward to seeing the world of picture books that Sydney Smith, the author with a delicate eye who doesn't overlook even the smallest details, like a flower blooming in a crack in a wall or the movement of sunlight streaming through an early morning window, will present next.