To Our Children's Children Journal of Family Memories
by Bob Greene
List Price:
Our Price: $9.59
You Save: $13.36 (58%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.16 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Bob GreeneEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-10-20
ISBN: 038549064X
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Doubleday
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780385490641
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of To Our Children's Children Journal of Family Memories
Book Review: You don't have to write in it. Excellent starting point for an oral history.
Summary: 5 Stars
My mom is 89. She's in good health, but her memory is getting spotty. From discussions with my nieces and nephews, I'm well aware of how many "family stories" already have been lost. So on a recent visit to Mom, I packed along my Flip Video and a copy of this book. I was almost reluctant to suggest we do an Oral History, but to my great surprise we used up the storage on the video camera that first night -- and she wanted to keep going.
I give most of the credit to this book. It's meant to be a sort-of-diary for an individual to fill out. At the top of every page is a set of questions, and the rest of the page is blank, so you can write out the answer. Rather than write in Mom's answers, I used them as queries as I videotaped her; now, thanks to iMovie, I'll turn it into a DVD that I can share with the rest of my family.
What makes these questions so good is that they elicit sensory memories. For example, rather than asking, "Tell me about your grandparents," the book asks, "Did your grandparents have a food smell that you associated with visiting them?" My mom said no... but then she proceeded to tell me more about where and how they lived than I ever knew. A question about the view from her childhood window led to a long explanation of why her parents bought everything a teenager might want (Mom had a ping pong table and a pool table?) -- this way, she said, other kids came to THEIR house, so her folks never worried about where THEIR children were. I've known my mom for 51 years, and in an hour she told me at least four stories I hadn't heard before.
Not every question grabbed her, of course -- but enough did that I quickly decided the book was absolutely worth the money. I would never have thought to ask her most of these questions. (Even though I'm a writer for a living, and I interview people professionally every day!)
Don't wait until your relative is 89. After doing this exercise with my Mom, I'm very tempted to send copies of this book to my sisters and my brother. How many of their own stories have they forgotten, or never taken the time to share with children and grandchildren? I also recommend using this as a starting point for a video; Mom said that writing it out herself wouldn't have happened (I suspect it'd seem like a homework assignment, the sort you put off) but when I asked... well, that was something else entirely.
Summary of To Our Children's Children Journal of Family Memories
You collect a lot of memories over a lifetime. Here is the place to keep them.First there was To Our Children's Children: Preserving Family Histories for Generations to Come. A collection of over one thousand evocative questions, the book offered a very personal, human approach to genealogy, awakening readers to the possibility of creating a family history through the simple act of remembering.
From this book, hundreds of thousands of individuals have learned the value of passing on family treasures made of words. However, readers kept asking Bob Greene and D.G. Fulford for a version of the book with room to record the answers.
The To Our Children's Children Journal is just that: a handy and beautiful journal posing 365 questions (one for each day of the year), with ample space for families to write their own answers. Approachable, enjoyable, and thought-provoking, the Journal is a pleasure to read and to ponder--something that, once completed, will become a lasting part of any family's history, to be put on the bookshelf and treasured for generations to come.
Family Relationships Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Family Relationships Books
Letter to Families:Saint Joseph Communications; Published: 1994-10; Audio Cassette; Book
Price in other shops:
The Secrets of Happy Families: Eight Keys to Building a Lifetime of Connection and Contentmentby Scott Haltzman MD
Jossey-Bass; Published: 2009-06-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops:
Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Knowby Meg Meeker
N/A; Ballantine Books; Published: 2007-08-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.97
Price in other shops:
I Sleep at Red Lights: A True Story of Life After Tripletsby Bruce Stockler
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2004-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.90
Price in other shops:
Protecting Your Children From Sexual Predatorsby Dr. Leigh Baker
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2002-04-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.65
Price in other shops:
A Life's Work: On Becoming a Motherby Rachel Cusk
Picador; Published: 2002-04-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.93
Price in other shops:
The Grandmother's BibleZondervan; Published: 2008-02-26; Leather Bound; Book
Best price: $32.33
Price in other shops:
Dress Codes: Of Three Girlhoods---My Mother's, My Father's, and Mineby Noelle Howey
Picador; Published: 2003-05-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.75
Price in other shops:
The Center of the Universe: A Memoirby Nancy Bachrach
Knopf; Published: 2009-04-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.97
Price in other shops:
Sh*t My Dad Saysby Justin Halpern
It Books; Published: 2010-05-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Conversations with My Mother: A Keepsake Journal for Celebrating a Lifetime of Stories (AARP)by Lark
Lark Crafts; Published: 2007-10-01; Spiral-bound; Book
Best price: $19.99
The Book of Myself A Do-It-Yourself Autobiography In 201 Questionsby Carl Marshall, David Marshall
Hyperion; Published: 2007-01-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.63
Price in other shops:
Legacy : A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Personal Historyby Linda Spence
Swallow Press; Published: 1997-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.26
Price in other shops:
A Grandparents' Memory Book: Did You Really Walk Five Miles to Schoolby Teri Harrison
Sta-Kris; Published: 1997-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.24
Price in other shops:
Grandparents JournalRyland Peters & Small; Published: 2008-04; Hardcover-spiral; Book
Best price: $6.47
Price in other shops:
The Book of Me: A Do-It-Yourself Memoir (Notebook, Diary) (Autobiographical Journal)by Nannette Stone
Peter Pauper Press; Published: 2008-02-01; Diary; Book
Best price: $9.60
Price in other shops:
A Grandparent's Legacy: Your Life Story in Your Own Wordsby Thomas Nelson
Thomas Nelson; Published: 2007-04-17; Spiral-bound; Book
Best price: $6.88
Price in other shops:
To Our Children's Children: Preserving Family Histories for Generations to Comeby Bob Greene, D. G. Fulford
Doubleday; Published: 1993-02-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops:
The Story of a Lifetime: A Keepsake of Personal Memoirsby Pamela Pavuk, J. Richard Huxen
Triangel; Published: 2000-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.75
Price in other shops:
Memories for My Grandchildby Annie Decker, Nicole Stephenson
Chronicle Books; Chronicle Books; Published: 2004-08-19; Hardcover-spiral; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops: