The Remember Balloons
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- ¥1,400
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- ¥1,400
発行者による作品情報
A 2019 Schneider Family Award Honor Book!
What’s Happening to Grandpa meets Up in this tender, sensitive picture book that gently explains the memory loss associated with aging and diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
James’s Grandpa has the best balloons because he has the best memories. He has balloons showing Dad when he was young and Grandma when they were married. Grandpa has balloons about camping and Aunt Nelle’s poor cow. Grandpa also has a silver balloon filled with the memory of a fishing trip he and James took together.
But when Grandpa’s balloons begin to float away, James is heartbroken. No matter how hard he runs, James can’t catch them. One day, Grandpa lets go of the silver balloon—and he doesn’t even notice!
Grandpa no longer has balloons of his own. But James has many more than before. It’s up to him to share those balloons, one by one.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Debut author Oliveros imagines that memories are small, brightly colored balloons tied to a person's wrist (and, in a dog's case, to its collar). The young narrator of this story has more balloons than his baby brother; his elderly grandfather has more than everyone in the family combined. But lately, Grandpa's balloons have been slipping from his wrist a few at first, and then more, "faster and faster" until finally, Grandpa no longer recognizes the boy. The boy is confused, scared, and angry: "Why did you let it go?" he cries when a silver balloon that represents an idyllic day spent fishing together floats away. "That was our balloon!" But his parents tell the boy that memories can be shared; his time with his grandfather, and the stories Grandpa told him about his own life, have become new balloons on the boy's wrist. The metaphor might have worn out its welcome quickly, but the book's visual strategy works: Wulfekotte (Rabbit & Possum) makes the balloons the only color elements and depicts the story's action in softly textured black-and-white line drawings. This distinctive look, combined with the simple, plaintive prose, offers genuine poignancy. Ages 5 9. Author's)
