“Ever so slowly, like a low tide leaving the bay, a change came along.Grandma was becoming more and more forgetful.”
Julia, the narrator of FORGET ME NOT, has a young lifetime of memories ofher grandmother--those times before her grandmother began forgettingeveryone’s names, forgetting to open the garage door when backing out the car,leaving her eyeglasses in the refrigerator, and forgetting all of thememorable adventures that she and Julia have had together.
“One awful snowy morning, Mrs. Hester found her in the garden wearingnothing but her nightie. She said Grandma was trying to pick forget-me-notsfrom underneath the snow, where they lay all crumpled and brown. Grandmaseemed not to notice the cold.
“When Mama and I got there, she didn’t seem to notice us, either.“So I asked, ‘Mama, what’s wrong with Grandma?’“She didn’t say anything, just shook her head.“I asked again. ‘Mama, please?’
“Finally she answered.
“‘You know how some old people have trouble seeing or hearing? Well,some have trouble remembering--like Grandma. It’s a sickness that nobodyknows how to cure yet.’
“Mama drew me close, comforting like always. I clung to her like a twistof ivy and held tight.”
In FORGET ME NOT, a noteworthy picture book about Alzheimer’s disease thatwill work quite well with preschoolers and elementary students, thosemishaps caused by her grandmother’s growing problem result in Julia’s parentsdecision to move Julia’s grandmother out of her house--a house that holdssuch memories for Julia--and into an assisted-living facility.
Stephanie Graegin is an illustrator to watch. Through herdigitally-colored pencil and ink washes, she creates believable, likeable characters and acomfortable visual setting for a tale that will undoubtedly bring worry tosome young audiences.
Alzheimer’s disease is a topic that is pretty scary for all of us. It isestimated that slightly more than one-percent of the world’s populationwill be affected by Alzheimer’s by mid-century. In terms of reassuring youngaudiences, this is both good and bad news: We can honestly say that thechances a child’s parents or grandparents will be affected are relativelysmall. And yet we must also say that every child will likely come to know acouple of people who develop it.
That reality makes this an important book. Better yet, this is also anengaging, thought-provoking, and excellently-illustrated picture book storyabout a child and her beloved grandparent.
Recommended by: Richie Partington, MLIS, Librarian, California USA
978-0-449-81543-4 Ages 5-10 40 pages
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