ISBN: 9780763646011
Read Oct 2, 2013
A
stunningly illustrated book, and a clever conceit. The frame story has
full-colored illustrations of a grandfather and granddaughter in a room
full of mementos, collectables, and books. The girl wants a story, and
picks a cigar-box full of tiny little ancient matchboxes.
Now we're into the heart of the story, and the
illustrations really shine. Very like Shaun Tam's The Arrival, these
are sepia-toned vignettes based on the "diary entries" found inside of
each matchbox. A dried husk of an olive pit tells of a childhood in
rural Italy, marked by hunger and lack of work. A bejewelled hatpin
shines with the hope spurring a harsh trip across the ocean to a land of
gold and plenty, while cracked sunflower seeds mark the number of days it took to
make the crossing. Later on, a cracked tooth shows the reality of
racist America, a hunk of coal indicates continued aspirations for
literacy, and a ticket stub memorializes a first-ever baseball game.
The boxes all opened, the frame returns with color
again to finish out the visit to grandfather, and show the girl
beginning her own collection, in an emptied box of chocolates.
