Memory Cupboard

September 22, 2003
When Katie breaks the gravy boat (a childhood gift from Katie's mother to her grandmother) while clearing the Thanksgiving table, her grandmother shows Katie a "memory cupboard" crammed with other meaningful broken objects. Herman's (the Max Malone books) message focuses on forgiveness—stressing that people matter more than things—but the slow, stilted narrative serves only to deliver the moral, not to develop the characters. Stahl (The St. Patrick's Day Shillelagh) portrays a certain warmth between Katie and her grandmother, but the other characters look stiff, the compositions static. Ages 6-9.

November 1, 2003
Gr 1-3-A sweet, simple story with a heartwarming message. When Katie visits Grandma for Thanksgiving, she accidentally breaks her cherished gravy boat. As Katie bursts out crying, her grandmother quickly whisks her away to the guest room where she keeps her "memory cupboard," a special place full of beloved things that have become worn out or broken through the years. Each item has a story, and Grandma's loving reassurance comforts the child and allows her to see that things may get broken, but granddaughters are forever. Realistic acrylic illustrations depict a loving family happy to be gathering at Grandma's. A pleasant addition to holiday collections.-Teri Markson, Stephen S. Wise Temple Elementary School, Los Angeles

Copyright 2003 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2004
Wanting to help clear the Thanksgiving table, Katie accidentally breaks an antique gravy boat. Katie is horrified, but Grandma shows her a cupboard filled with old broken toys, clocks, and dishes, each with a "story to tell"--her memory cupboard. "Things are just things," she tells Katie. Realistic, though slightly stiff, paintings complement the story in which love matters more than objects.

(Copyright 2004 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)