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The Forgettery ISBN: 9781405294768
Hughes, Laura and Ip, Rachel
Published by Egmont UK Limited, 2021
Amelia has a rather unusual Granny, who loves somersaulting and playing on see-saws and exploring, but she also tends to forget things - sometimes small things like forgetting to close the front door, but often big things like special memories. Amelia is forgetful too, but this is because she love to daydream. Together the two of them go off on adventures, and one day when they are deep in a wood, they come across a special place at the foot of a tree, and this special place is the Forgettery. Inside, they find lots of busy, busy people storing other peoples forgotten things - and soon they are in Granny's special room where all her memories are stored. It must be a large room, because she has so many forgotten memories: 'Moments of delight, lost and forgotten, fluttering in the room like butterflies.' Very carefully she picks out the most important ones, and putting them in a glass jar, she and Amelia go on to Amelia's small room. In here we discover more mundane things, like a box of un-spoken pleases and thank-yous and another of 'ouches, bumps and grazes' which she is pleased to forget again! Sliding down a long and winding slide, they come back to the entrance and the Memory Keeper, who gives Granny a map to help them get home and to Amelia, he gives a letter with some excellent advice on how to keep memories inside one's head. From then on, Amelia and Granny make a book together to keep photos and memories in, and in the end they both know there is one memory they will never forget, their love for each other. This beautiful story, beautiful in both words and pictures, not only makes clear the loving relationship between Granny and Amelia but also gives us clear advice on how to help the grannies in our own lives who are experiencing loss of memory. A very special picture book.
Age: 5+