The Heart Never Forgets

Reviewed by Veronika Jenke

Reviewed Source: Africa Access
Book Author: Ana Ot

The Heart Never Forgets, written by Ana Ot, is the story of a young girl who attends a celebration of ancestors without her grandfather, who recently passed away. This annual celebration brings together the entire town with music, dancing, and masquerade performers. But the little girl feels distraught without him.

Townspeople gather in the open spaces where food is prepared, where stories are told, where musicians play, and where families converse, waiting for the festivities to begin.  The young girl’s father appears wearing the green velvet hat her grandfather always wore.  Her mother prepares the grandfather’s favorite food wearing her grandfather’s wooden beads.  Her brother, holding the grandfather’s too large walking stick, tries to console his younger sister who thinks she doesn’t have anything with which to honor her grandfather.  All her family is bringing something to this important event, except her.

The drums begin to sound, dum, dum, dum, signaling the beginning of the festivities.  The family and townspeople share stories about the grandfather. The young girl remembers dancing only when her grandfather played the talking drum.  Dum, dum, dum, the drums get more energetic; then the masquerade performers appear.  They wear large billowing gowns with flowing fabric strips, others wear costumes of grass topped with a carved sculpture. The performers dance and spin and flip, stirring the dust; some performers are on stilts. The little girl watches their skillful performances all the while remembering her grandfather. Continue reading on Africa Access.

Read more books on this topic on our Africa and Grief booklists.

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The Heart Never Forgets by Ana Ot
Published by Simon and Schuster on April 16, 2024
Genres: Africa, Grandparents and Elders, Grief
Pages: 40
Reading Level: Grade K, Grades 1-2
ISBN: 9781665913058
Review Source: Africa Access

Publisher's Synopsis: A young girl pays tribute to the memory of her grandfather during a West African masquerade festival in this moving, lushly illustrated picture book.

DUM! DUM! DUM! DUM!
The talking drums thump a sweet beat . . . .
The masquerade has begun.

As villagers gather to hear masked musicians beating drums, savor fried plantains, and watch the joyful dancers, a young girl joins the celebration with her family. But this year, everything feels different; it’s the first masquerade without Grandpa.

Each member of the family carries something that honors Grandpa — his clanking beads, soft velvet hat, and carved walking stick. But the young girl doesn’t have any of Grandpa’s items. Instead, she brings with her a special memory shared only between the two of them. Will she be able to share it with the world?