The Memory of Joy

Currently, I am researching possible publishers and agents for my manuscript, The Shorty Story  This fictionalized tale addresses the loss of a parent. Through this on-going research,  I came across an empowering book entitled The Memory Box, written by Joanna Rowland and illustrated by Thea Baker.  

I felt different than my peers as a child.  Every month, I was given a pair of the "office"clothes  at school.  These pants announced to the whole world that I'd wet my pants.  Other times, I was on the receiving end of a legacy that was built by the blocks of bullies.  The most invasive bridge that made me feel like an outsider, came after the death of my father.  His passing occurred the year before I entered middle school.  After this event, I felt ashamed, scared and confused.  The resources available to children at that time, often centered around the separation of a family via divorce. It was rare that we would discuss the death of a parent.

The Memory Box  introduces us to a young girl who has just lost a parent.  She starts to look for ways to fill the emptiness and sorrow brought on by her loss.  The girl makes the decision to create a memory box, to keep her parent presence alive.   She intentionally places objects in this box that evoke specific memories and motivate her to fulfill the aspirations she shared with this parent.  The items she selects become a way to keep her beloved alive through memories.

 This book gently approaches the death of a parent (or parental figure) head on.  It's my opinion that children books seem to skirt around the issue of loss by using metaphors and/or animals as a way to discuss this trauma.  The author uses the box, as a tool to help the girl come to terms with this tragedy.  It's concrete mechanism, one may use to guide a child through the grieving process.

An argument could be made about the importance of rich, inferential and strong illustrations, in kidlit.  As a child, that was one of the hooks that pulled me into the world of literature and reading.  Baker doesn't disappoint us with her unique and reverential illustrations.  Her physical imprint seems present in each picture, unlike the more common computer generated images found in many of today's children's book.

As a child who treasured story time, this book would've made a positive impact on me. As a reading teacher, I could create many activities around this book. The Memory Box provides numerous opportunity's for a students to practice word families, rhyme and inferencing.

The Memory Box  is an ideal piece of  kidlit for parents, teachers, grief specialists and really anyone that knows a child affected by the trauma of loss.  As a side note, the book does have a resource guide in the back for the reader.  I don't object to this, however the resources are Christian centric.  Despite this religious bias, the story generally distances itself from any religious perspective about death.

Please feel free to send me titles of children's book that represent diversity and social-emotional issues.  I read it through the lens of a reading teacher and the inner child that remains in me.