Memory Box

March 2, 1992
Gramps sometimes forgets to shave, cuts his feet when he accidentally leaves home without shoes on and talks to a daughter who isn't there. The problem is Alzheimer's disease: he knows it, Gram knows it and young Zach, the narrator, knows it. The memory box is a small carved wooden treasure chest of bits of paper recording the good times, filled by the three of them. This picture book for middle readers refreshingly features a family that talks about difficult topics--and whose members, including Gramps himself, find a way to heal their wounds. When Gramps wanders off, the boy ``helped him back to the house. Led him, if you want to know the truth.'' Rich, uncomplicated illustrations deftly delineate the scene--the berry red house on a lake, quiet blue water, deer in the tall grass--and the players in this quiet and touching drama. Love and reassurance fill these pages--along with the sadness of loss and knowledge that there is more to come. Ages 7-11.

September 1, 1992
Gr 1-3- -Zach's summer visit with his grandparents takes an unexpected turn when he learns that his grandfather has Alzheimer's disease. Gramps tells him that it's time to start a special box to store their family tales and traditions. As the visit progresses, punctuated by several episodes of the illness, Zach and his grandparents reminisce and fill their memory box with mementos of past times together. At the end of his stay, Zach leaves hugging the box, where he will store his memories from the coming year to share with his Gramps and Gram next summer. The bittersweet text is beautifully written, conveying the tender relationships through the young boy's believable narrative. Cunningham's gouache illustrations are lovely, radiating the tranquil peace of the lake, house, and surrounding woods. Simple books on Alzheimer's disease are scarce; Judy Delton's My Grandma's in a Nursing Home (Albert Whitman, 1986), which focuses on a child adjusting to nursing home visits as well as to the illness, is another noteworthy example. However, The Memory Box depicts the early stages of the disease in more detail and offers an imaginative suggestion for positive action. A moving, sympathetic, and ultimately comforting book.- Judy Constantinides, East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA

Starred review from February 15, 1992
Ages 5-8. In recent years, there have been a number of books about children dealing with their grandparents' Alzheimer's disease. Often the books are bland at best, didactic at worst. This sensitive offering circumvents the pitfalls of "disease books" and proves itself to be a fitting tribute to love. Zach adores summer vacations at his grandparents' summer home, where he enjoys nature walks, fishing, and his grandmother's cinnamon rolls. Grandpa's stories are another highlight, but this summer Grandpa doesn't want to just tell them; he's anxious to start a Memory Box that will hold family tales and traditions. Although there are clues as the summer passes that all is not right with Grandpa, for the most part, it is a season of the usual pleasant diversions mixed with the reminiscences. Only when a disoriented Grandpa returns home ("He tried to hide his face. It was shiny with tears.") does Grandma tell Zach about Grandpa's sickness and why the Memory Box is so important to all of them. Those who have seen the movie "On Golden Pond," with its strong husband-wife relationship and its pastoral setting, will be reminded of it here. Certainly, the wonderfully executed, evocative artwork, filled with sunsets, blue water, and tender moments, has the same sense of bittersweetness. Unlike other books on the topic, where the elderly relative is often beyond recognition, this grandfather remains himself most of the time. Knowing he'll forget makes his struggle for memories all the more poignant. ((Reviewed Feb. 15, 1992))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1992, American Library Association.)