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Boxes for Katje - Hardcover | Diverse Reads

Boxes for Katje

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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

ISBN-13: 9780374309220

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Farrar - Straus and Giroux

Publication Date: 09-12-2003

Pages: 40

Product Dimensions: 9.06(w) x 11.75(h) x 0.31(d)

Age Range: 4 - 8 Years

Series: Rise and Shine

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.

Reading Group Guide

Discussion Questions

1. What were the needs of the citizens of Olst? Why did they have these needs? What needs would you guess the children of Iraq might have today? Or the children in the cities destroyed by natural disasters?

2. What details in the book (story and art) let you know how the people of Olst felt about the boxes when they arrived?

3. How would you characterize Katje? Rosie?

4. How were the towns of Olst and Mayfield alike and different?

5. What could your hometown send as a thank-you gift if it were the recipient of Mayfield's generous gifts?