Don't Forget [Hardcover]

Patricia Lakin (Author), Ted Rand (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up

Sarah sets off to buy the ingredients to make her mother a surprise birthday cake. It is her first cake, so the shopkeepers all share their baking secrets with Sarah. But the Singers have a secret that makes Sarah reluctant to even enter their store. A life-affirming glimpse of a postwar Jewish neighborhood. Full color.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sarah is planning to surprise her mother by baking her first cake, and as she collects ingredients and baking tips from local storekeepers, she learns a valuable lesson. Set in the same post-WW II era as Lakin's The Palace of Stars , this unassuming tale warmly evokes a close-knit community. But all is not sunny nostalgia. Sarah dreads going to the Singers' store, but has no other choice. Once in, she looks fixedly at Mr. Singer's gold-rimmed glasses, at the fan that hangs from the tin ceiling--at everything except the blue numbers tattooed on the Singers' left arms. She is startled when Mrs. Singer reminds her husband of something that happened "a long time ago"; she assumes that the Singers never think about the past ("That was when the Nazis gave them the blue numbers and put them in the concentration camps--just because they were Jews"). Mrs. Singer, however, tells Sarah it is okay to look at the tattoos: "The numbers should never be a secret. . . . If no one knows about bad things, they can happen all over again." The portrayal of a child frightened of raising demons from the past is very real and intelligently drawn. Rand's sepia-hued, light-splashed watercolors have a wonderful period feel. A nice final touch is the recipe for Sarah's first cake. Ages 5-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3-Eight-year-old Sarah, preparing to bake her first cake-a surprise for her mother's birthday-shops for the ingredients. Each shopkeeper gives her a baking tip, playfully warning her not to forget the secret. Her last stop is Singer's Grocery, a store run by Holocaust survivors. Sarah cannot keep from staring at the numbers tattooed on their arms. As Mrs. Singer leads the child into the kitchen where she has invited her to bake, she tells her that the numbers are not a secret and that no one should ever forget them. She also gives the girl a little baking tip-to kiss the pan-and tells her a sweet story about her youth. At last, with her cake in hand, Sarah heads home with Mrs. Singer issuing one final reminder: "Be sure to tell your Mama you made this cake by yourself." This is a lighthearted, old-fashioned story with a repeating chorus that children will love. Rand's painterly illustrations perfectly capture the postwar neighborhood and Sarah's pleasure in making her present. However, the serious Holocaust element seems out of sync with the rest of the "don't forgets." While David Adler's The Number on My Grandfather's Arm (UAHC, 1987) treats this topic more appropriately, Sarah's story is still a charming one.
Marcia Posner, Federation of New York and the Jewish Book Council, New York City
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 1 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers; 1st edition (May 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068812075X
• ISBN-13: 978-0688120757
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,149,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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