Daddy had an idea: ‘Molly, let’s make a memory jar for Lucy.’
Molly had never heard of a memory jar, but she liked the idea of making something for Lucy.
When her beloved golden retriever dog, Lucy, dies, Molly is deeply sad. But her wise, loving father, helps her to remember the happy times with Lucy as a way of coping with her grief. He suggests a memory jar, a jar which Molly fills with coloured glass balls, each representing a precious memory. Now, when she feels sad, she can use the balls to remember the good times.
This is a lovely gentle story, with the feeling of hope and healing the text creates echoes by the gradual infusion of colour into the illustrations which begin in black and white and gradually have more and more colours so that at the end they are in full colour.
Perfect both for a child who might be grieving, and as an introduction to the concept of death and grief, as well as just a lovely story of hope.
Molly’s Memory Jar, by Norma Spaulding & Jacqui Grantford
New Frontier, 2010
ISBN 9781921042355
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