Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Tue Feb 28 00:00:00 CST 2023)

A girl grows up and passes on her childhood treasures to her granddaughter.Before sunrise on her eighth birthday, Maude, a young Black girl, heads into the woods, where she buries a red tin box full of treasures beneath a dogwood tree and makes herself a promise. As she grows older-raising a family of her own with a Black, female-presenting partner-she never forgets that red tin box, but she does begin to forget its contents. Overcome with urgency one day, Maude picks up her granddaughter Eve, and, as they drive to Maude's childhood home, Maude tells Eve about the box. Somehow, Maude knows where to dig, and together they stumble upon Maude's simple treasures. On the drive home, Maude passes down stories and later gives Eve the treasures so that her granddaughter can make her own promise to herself. Majestic illustrations with smudgy strokes and breathtakingly vibrant hues that bleed into each other-the reds, purples, and pinks of sunset, the blues and blacks of twilight-heartwarmingly limn Maude's love for her family and the life she has lived. Simple, poetic language engages the senses throughout this quiet, subtle celebration of familial relationships. This is the perfect read-aloud to showcase how traditions and stories are passed down to future generations and that simple items can bring the most joy along with the stories attached to them. All characters depicted are Black. (This book was reviewed digitally.)An unforgettable ode to intergenerational bonds. (Picture book. 4-7)

ALA Booklist (Mon May 08 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Eight-year-old Maude carefully selects a group of treasures and places them in a red tin box. After she buries the box beneath a dogwood tree, Maude makes a promise known only to herself. As time passes, the illustrations suggest that she and her partner, a woman, become parents to a daughter, who eventually has her own daughter. Later, Maude takes the granddaughter back to her childhood home. The tree is bigger now, but they are able to dig up the box. After Maude gives the box to her granddaughter, the young girl buries it and makes a promise to herself. Why these objects were important to Maude is not explained, but seeing them helps her remember and share stories across generations. The text does not explain the objects' significance, but the illustrations hold powerful emotion. What caused Maude to bury the box in the first place? Why is she seized by a sudden need to retrieve it? Both events seem to be tied to changes or transitions, highlighted by an angle of geese flying overhead.

Horn Book (Tue May 09 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

On her eighth birthday, Maude buries a red tin box under a dogwood tree (only she knows what's inside), making a promise to herself. Decades pass. Maude, now an older woman, remembers the box but not its contents. One afternoon she is "seized with a feeling" and invites her granddaughter on a long drive to her old home. The granddaughter is filled with questions ("what's inside the box?"), and they both wonder if they'll be able to find it. They do indeed, and Maude is overcome with emotions as she explores the box's contents and then shares stories from her childhood on the drive back home. Burgess's (Drawing on Walls, rev. 1/21) detailed text is filled with evocative sensory descriptions: "At the foot of the flowering dogwood, in a soft spot where she once discovered a fallen nest, the earth seemed to whisper, 'Here.'" A vivid coppery-red and brilliant golds dominate Turk's (Hello, Moon, rev. 9/22) palette, and he fills the book with intriguing perspectives and distinctive textures. Burgess's warm intergenerational tale leaves Maude's specific memories, the meaning of each item in the red tin box, and Maude's promise to herself a mystery to readers, thereby inviting them to imagine the contours of her childhood and perhaps even consider what they'd put in their own red tin boxes. Julie Danielson

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

A girl grows up and passes on her childhood treasures to her granddaughter.Before sunrise on her eighth birthday, Maude, a young Black girl, heads into the woods, where she buries a red tin box full of treasures beneath a dogwood tree and makes herself a promise. As she grows older-raising a family of her own with a Black, female-presenting partner-she never forgets that red tin box, but she does begin to forget its contents. Overcome with urgency one day, Maude picks up her granddaughter Eve, and, as they drive to Maude's childhood home, Maude tells Eve about the box. Somehow, Maude knows where to dig, and together they stumble upon Maude's simple treasures. On the drive home, Maude passes down stories and later gives Eve the treasures so that her granddaughter can make her own promise to herself. Majestic illustrations with smudgy strokes and breathtakingly vibrant hues that bleed into each other-the reds, purples, and pinks of sunset, the blues and blacks of twilight-heartwarmingly limn Maude's love for her family and the life she has lived. Simple, poetic language engages the senses throughout this quiet, subtle celebration of familial relationships. This is the perfect read-aloud to showcase how traditions and stories are passed down to future generations and that simple items can bring the most joy along with the stories attached to them. All characters depicted are Black. (This book was reviewed digitally.)An unforgettable ode to intergenerational bonds. (Picture book. 4-7)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

On her eighth birthday, red-spectacled Maude, portrayed with brown skin, buries a precious red tin box beneath a young dogwood tree, and then makes a promise to herself. Over successive spreads, Turk (Hello, Moon) fast-forwards, painting portraits of Maude maturing: wearing a mortarboard, expecting a child, and welcoming a grandchild, too. But “Maude never forgot the red tin box,” even as its specific contents slowly disappear from her recollection. One day, Maude, now silver-haired, is “seized with a feeling.” She picks up her granddaughter, Eve, from school; they drive “four towns over,” find the house and the dogwood, and start digging. Burgess (Make Meatballs Sing) writes a moving description of the two traveling together; Maude reminiscing, Eve listening wide-eyed. Bold paintings by Turk glow with sunset hues and sweeping forms, but also get close enough to the figures to show their facial expressions—even the tears in their eyes as they bond. In a tale of keepsakes hidden and found, Maude embodies the way that a grandparent’s love can offer intimacy, authenticity, and a signpost for staying true to oneself. Ages 3–5. Author’s agent: Erica Rand Silverman, Stimola Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Brenda Bowen, Book Group. (Apr.)