Newbery Medalist Paul Fleischman and Bagram Ibatoulline tell a breathtaking immigration tale with appeal across generations.
"Pick whatever you like most. Then I’ll tell you its story."
When a little girl visits her great-grandfather at his curio-filled home, she chooses an unusual object to learn about: an old cigar box. What she finds inside surprises her: a collection of matchboxes making up her great-grandfather’s diary, harboring objects she can hold in her hand, each one evoking a memory. Together they tell of his journey from Italy to a new country, before he could read and write — the olive pit his mother gave him to suck on when there wasn’t enough food; a bottle cap he saw on his way to the boat; a ticket still retaining the thrill of his first baseball game. With a narrative entirely in dialogue, Paul Fleischman makes immediate the two characters’ foray into the past. With warmth and an uncanny eye for detail, Bagram Ibatoulline gives expressive life to their journey through time — and toward each other.
- Used Book in Good Condition
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful.
Amazingly tender story with incrediblely beautiful artwork.
By Heidi Grange
WOW! I'm not sure I know what to say about this book. I knew when I saw that it was written by Paul Fleischman and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline that it would be a wonderful book. I was not disappointed. The book more than lived up to my expectations. The immigration experience is not a new story, but telling it through the lens of a diary kept by a young boy through small objects he collected and stored in old matchboxes is brilliant. A story told through the objects gathered over a lifetime. The grandfather in the story grew up in Italy and didn't learn to read until moving to America, but he wanted to have a diary so he began collecting items that represented things of importance to him. Each object has seemingly little significance, except in his memory. A tender story of the power of things around us to remind us of important events in our lives.As for the illustrations, they are exquisite. The detail on the acrylic gouache (watercolor) paintings is amazing. The illustrations are so detailed they almost look like old photographs, which is clearly what the artist was going for. The pictures of the great-grandfather with his granddaughter are done in beautiful shades of color while the pictures representing the stories of his past that he tells are in shades of brown and white. The innocence of the children and the kindness and wisdom of the grandfather shine through very clearly. This is the kind of picture book that I love to just sit and look at because of the beauty of it. I highly recommend this story of family and change and life.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.Poignant and touching story of memories kept tucked away in matchboxes
By Z Hayes
"The Matchbox Diary" by Paul Fleischman is a beautifully-crafted, tender story of a great-grandfather reminiscing about his past together with his great-granddaughter. The young girl is visiting her great-grandfather for the first time, and he encourages her to explore a cigar box that is filled with matchboxes. As the little girl opens each matchbox, she uncovers a keepsake from the past where each and every object uncovered reveals a story of her great-grandfather's past, dating back to his hardscrabble childhood in Italy to his family's emigration to the United States.The story is told in a poignant way, capturing the tender affection of the great-grandfather and the little girl's sense of wonder and curiosity as she opens each matchbox. Readers learn that the great-grandfather kept these mementoes in matchboxes to serve as a diary, given that he had not learned to read and a write as a child, due to his family's extreme poverty.One matchbox reveals an ordinary looking olive pit, which it is, except that it serves as a reminder of the great-grandfather's poverty-stricken childhood in Italy where he was given an olive pit to suck on when he complained of hunger. Another matchbox reveals a beautiful hairpin which the old man found while sailing on the ship with his family, heading to America where he thinks, as many others do, that there was "gold lying on the ground." Does America prove to be the land of opportunity for this family? As the old man reminisces, readers learn that the family went through some really tough times, but through sheer hard work and determination, they managed to eke out a life, and the old man in particular received a priceless gift.The text is enhanced by the lush illustrations of talented illustrator, Bagram Ibatoulline. The old man's reminiscences are captured by sepia-toned illustrations which capture the memories of the past with an aching sense of beauty and poignancy. The present day, featuring the old man and his great-granddaughter is captured by colorful and detailed illustrations that convey a sense of intimacy, affection, and wonder as the little girl begins to piece together the events that shaped her great-grandfather's life, and the final picture featuring the little girl beginning her own box diary is one that will warm the hearts of all readers. This is a great book for discussing the importance of literacy, the plight of the early immigrants, the love of family, and the wonder of everyday objects.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.An Amazing Book!
By Dad of Divas
What a beautiful written and illustrated book! I have to say that I was captivated by this tale from beginning to end, not only by the words shared, but by the amazing images shared within its' pages. The book hits home as I come from a family full of immigrants and I try to share this heritage with my own girls (to mixed results). This book however, captures the experience itself in a while new way, and I think explains it in a way that all children will understand and appreciate. The images themselves are works of art in book form. The images themselves as watercolors, just went beyond my expectation and I have to say that are so much richer than many books written for children today. I found that each time I went through the book I was finding new things in the images that I had not seen before. All-in-all this is a wonderful book for any family to share with their own children!*I received a copy for review - all opinions are my own*
