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Summary
Summary
Simple seeds of friendship grow into something extraordinary
After World War II there is little left in Katje's town of Olst in Holland. Her family, like most Dutch families, must patch their old worn clothing and go without everyday things like soap and milk. Then one spring morning when the tulips bloom "thick and bright," Postman Kleinhoonte pedals his bicycle down Katje's street to deliver a mysterious box - a box from America! Full of soap, socks, and chocolate, the box has been sent by Rosie, an American girl from Mayfield, Indiana. Her package is part of a goodwill effort to help the people of Europe. What's inside so delights Katje that she sends off a letter of thanks - beginning an exchange that swells with so many surprises that the girls, as well as their townspeople, will never be the same.
This inspiring story, with strikingly original art, is based on the author's mother's childhood and will show young readers that they, too, can make a difference.
Boxes for Katje is a 2004 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year and a 2006 California Young Readers Medal for Picture Books for Older Readers winner
Author Notes
Candace Fleming is the author of Gabriella's Song. She lives in Mount Prospect, Illinois.
Stacey Dressen-McQueen lives in Portland, Oregon. Boxes for Katje is her first book.
Reviews (5)
Horn Book Review
(Primary) Amidst the deprivations of life in post-WWII Holland, young Katje receives a care package from an American girl. Katje writes a thank-you note to Rosie, who, when she hears about Katje's generosity with the handful of gifts, begins recruiting friends and neighbors to help send bigger and bigger packages to Katje, who shares the bounty with her friends and neighbors. Fleming has carefully shaped her story so that Katje's heartfelt letters unintentionally inspire further gifts from Rosie (a clothing drive at Rosie's church results from Katje's innocent mention of how the box of food made everyone so happy they forgot about the holes in their shoes). The opening endpapers show Rosie's Indiana neighborhood in 1945; closing endpapers feature the same scene two years later, each yard overflowing with color--from the tulip bulbs Katje's community sends to express their gratitude. First-time illustrator Dressen-McQueen keeps the sentimentality of the story at bay with artwork that matter-of-factly presents Katje's poverty and Rosie's relative prosperity while, like the text, emphasizing their similarities: the secure warmth each experiences at home and their desire to help others. Reflecting the story's theme about friendship's ability to bridge long distances, the multimedia illustrations often overlay a scene from Katje's hometown with one of the girls' handwritten letters and a snapshot-like picture of Rosie's home. An author's note provides further information on the actual events that inspired Fleming's story. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-This primarily iconographic presentation of Candace Fleming's historical fiction picture book (Farrar, 2003) gently captures the themes of friendship, caring, sharing, and generosity. It opens with a live-action clip of Fleming sharing the background of the story which was drawn from an incident in her mother's life. The female narrator reads in an accented voice with expression and careful pacing, creating a different voice for each character. The story takes place in Holland just after the conclusion of World War II. An American child living in Indiana sends a series of packages to Katje, a child living in Olst. At first Rosie sends Katje a box containing soap, socks, and chocolate. Katje appreciates the generous gift of needed supplies. Rosie continues to send Katje more and more packages which increase in size. Katje shares their contents with her needy neighbors and sends thank you letters to Rosie. Soon Rosie involves her entire community in the growing project to collect and send boxes of basic necessities to the people in Holland. A variety of camera angles and sprightly music keep the production moving and prevent the plot from becoming monotonous. A bit of animation is incorporated when the postman is shown riding his bicycle to make a delivery at Katje's home. The artwork by Stacey Dressen-McQueen accurately reflects the time and place. A worthy purchase for school and public libraries looking for historical fiction titles for primary grade children.-Lynn K. Vanca, Akron-Summit County Public Library, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Inspired by actual events, Fleming's (Ben Franklin's Almanac, reviewed below) engaging story of post-WWII Holland serves as a potent-and merry-lesson in generosity. The residents of war-ravaged Olst "patched and repatched their worn-thin clothing, and they went without soap or milk, sugar or new shoes." Through the Children's Aid Society, an American child, Rosie, sends a box of provisions to Katje, a windfall the girl gladly shares with the postman and her mother. Her thank-you note inspires a larger package, which she aportions to her neighbors, and so on, until sleds of provisions from Rosie's town arrive for all the residents of Olst. Fleming deftly dramatizes the story with lively conversations among the townspeople and letters between the two girls. In an outstanding debut, Dressen-McQueen immerses readers in post-war Holland, crafting an entirely credible world of cobblestone streets, Dutch architecture and vintage clothing. Primitive in its flattened perspectives, these earth-toned illustrations (which progressively brighten as the situation does) resonate with joy and fellowship. The girls' letters and small, painted "snapshots" of Rosie's world drop into full-bleed panoramas of Katje's town. That is, until the story's end, when the residents of Olst return a gift to Rosie, whose jubilant receipt of the package fills the spread. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
K-Gr. 3. In May 1945, a Dutch girl namedatje 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 toatje, 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 Copyright 2003 Booklist
Kirkus Review
Katje and her family struggle to make due with substitutions for essentials like soap and sugar in Holland, post-WWII. One day, Postman Kleinhoonte unexpectedly delivers a small box from America addressed to Katje; it contains a bar of soap, a pair of wool socks, and some chocolate. A letter from Rosie is also in the box expressing her wish that "these gifts brighten your day." A pen-pal exchange begins with Katje's thank-you letter and gradually develops into an American small-town effort to donate basics to their European counterpart over the course of a year. Katje's neighbors reciprocate with a box of tulip bulbs after conditions improve in the war-torn country. Fleming reveals Katje's character of leadership, resolve, and gratitude through her written communiquÉs and Rosie's initiative and inspiration through her active promotion of the charitable effort. Dressen-McQueen captures the flavor and essence of Fleming's 1945 family experience through her detailed mixed-media paintings delineating fabric patterns, hairdos, emotions, and the general lifestyle of both communities. As heartwarming and uplifting as a bouquet of tulips. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
