Molly's Memory Jar

Norma Spaulding (author)

Jacqui Grantford (illustrator)

New Frontier Publishing, Australia: 2010

ISBN: 9781921042355

Genres: picture book, realistic fiction

Issues: grief, loss

When Molly's best friend dies, her father suggests she makes a 'memory jar' for Lucy. Each time Molly thinks of something she wants to remember about Lucy, she puts a coloured glass ball in the memory jar. As Molly finds more memories to celebrate, her jar – and her life – begins to recapture the colour and warmth it had when Lucy was alive.

It can be difficult to explore loss and grief in children's books. Although Molly's Memory Jar starts with a somewhat contrived concept, that is often how adults feel when they're trying to help their own child come to terms with death. We approach them cautiously, trying to simplify a complex, life-changing concept into something manageable in order to ease their pain.

Molly's Memory Jar is a touching story about the level of loss that children can feel and the importance of finding a way to help them through it. This is a book that is meant to be shared, to work as a starting point for adults to help children find ways of talking about their feelings. Spaulding recognises just how difficult that can be for both child and parent/carer and the 'memory jar' can be both symbolic and practical. Jacqui Grantford's superb illustrations take what is a simple enough story to another level, capturing the grey tones of Molly's sad world and allowing hints of colour to creep in to the images as Molly's memories strengthen, reminding her that Lucy will always be in her heart.