The Memory String

Ages: K-3
By Eve Bunting

Laura is resentful towards her stepmother and clings onto a family heirloom. It is a "memory string" of buttons taken from special garments that her mother had made. As Laura's father and stepmother paint the new house, Laura talks to the cat about the "memory string" and the significance of each button. The cat causes the memory string to break. Laura is distraught. Darkness falls and one button is still missing. The step mother insists, "Laura would rather have that button missing than have a replacement-It's like a mother. No substitute allowed." The stepmother finds the precious missing button in the dark with a flashlight and places it on the porch where Laura can see it. In the morning the child has had a change of heart and asks Jane's help in restringing the beads.

This books addresses the difficulties faced by death of a loved one in a non-dramatic way and it offers a hopeful beginning and invites readers to think about ways to remember family history-including making one's own button memory string.