Don't Forget

Don't Forget

While buying the ingredients for her first cake--a surprise for her mother's birthday--Sarah shares secrets with the friendly neighborhood shopkeepeers 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. Holocaust survivors--Fiction||Jew--U.S.--Fiction||Cake--Fiction [CIP] 93-20341 Ages 5-8. Shopping in her Jewish neighborhood for ingredients to make a secret birthday cake for her mother, Sarah meets lots of friendly people, and each storekeeper shares a special secret for baking success. Only in the Singers' grocery store does Sarah feel uncomfortable. They are kind to her, but she knows about their ugly secret. She tries not to stare, but she knows that the Nazis had tattooed numbers on the arms of Mr. and Mrs. Singer and had put the couple in a concentration camp because they were Jews. However, the Singers insist that it isn't a secret; it must never be a secret; otherwise, it could happen again. Rand's soft-textured, realistic watercolors capture the postwar ethnic community in all its richness, including the foods in the stores and the individual characters. The story is upbeat, even sentimental: The people are all loving and gentle; everyone smiles at Sarah, not a crotchety one among them. The quiet sorrow of the survivors is here, and this could be a starting point for introducing the Holocaust to young children, though the references are so oblique that adults will have to supply much more information. What is compelling is the sense of secrets, both joyful and appalling. Hazel Rochman Shopping for ingredients to bake her mother a birthday cake, Sarah stops at the greengrocer's for an orange and the bakery for advice but is reluctant to go to Singer's; though they have the flour and eggs she needs, she's fascinated and horrified by the blue numbers the nice old couple have tattooed on their arms. When Mrs. Singer finds out what troubles the eight-year-old (``I know how you got them,'' says Sarah. ``And that they are your secret''), she reassures her (``The numbers should never be a secret'') and, in helping her to bake the cake in her own kitchen so that it will be a surprise, recalls the first cake she made in the same pan. An appealing story that gently but effectively makes its point. Rand's cheerfully nostalgic watercolors suggest the late '40s. Recipe for orange sponge cake included; it's a good thing Sarah had adult help. (Picture book. 6-10) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.