Module 10: Boxes for Katje

Citation:


Fleming, Candace, and Stacey Dressen-McQueen.Boxes for Katje. Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2003. Print.


Summary:


Katje is a Dutch girl whose family, along with the rest of Holland, is scrabbling to survive after World War II.  She receives a package from America; sent by an unknown family as part of a relief effort.  It contains necessities such as soap and and wool socks as well as a luxury item in the form of a chocolate bar.  She shares with her family and writes a letter of thanks.  As a result of those two simple gestures, her whole town is eventually saved through a landslide of compassion.


Personal Impression:


This is such an emotional tale.  I cried when I read it.  It is a wonderful description of the best side of human nature.  The artwork is dark when describing the sorrows and light when describing the gifts.  A wonderful picture book that I fully intend on purchasing for my daughter.


Reviews:


In May 1945, a Dutch girl named Katje is thrilled to receive a letter and a package of socks, soap, and chocolate from Rosie, a girl she doesn’t know who lives in Mayfield, Indiana. The kids start to exchange letters, and when Rosie’s family members learn of Holland’s severe post-war deprivations, they enlist Mayfield residents to send food and clothes to Katje, who generously shares the gifts with others in her community. The sense of suffering isn’t strong here, in part because the Dutch townspeople are almost always depicted as smiling about the packages. But the story is still moving, and Dressen-McQueen’s lively illustrations, in colored pencil, oil pastel, and acrylic, pack lots of color, pattern, and historical details onto every expansive page. Fleming based the book on her mother’s experience, which she describes in an author’s note; in the real-life story, however, adults, not children, orchestrated the events, a finding that may be a little disappointing to kids who took the book, with its specific dates, town names, and heroic, generous children, as straight fact. — Kathleen Odean


Retrieved from Booklist Online; http://www.booklistonline.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pid=1139921


Use in a Library Setting:


Such a story as this needs a grand display.  This would be excellent as part of a Thanksgiving holiday celebration.  Not because it is about Thanksgiving but because it epitomizes what Thanksgiving is supposed to be about.  It also would be a good book for children to read in conjunction with studies about World War II and it's aftermath.  Finally, donation drives conducted at the library for local food banks and the Salvation Army could be paired with storytimes with books like this one.