This book is a children's storybook as you can guess. I happened to read this book to my kids before their bedtime. Upon completion I had tears in my eyes. One has heard of poignant movies and books but a poignant children's storybook? Who knew? I did not for sure. Even the title of this storybook doesn't give a hint of any elements of poignancy in the story. When I first read the title I thought to myself " oh wow, something about jams and jellies". Sure enought the book is about jam and jelly but it is the simple yet profound message given through the jam and jelly combination that really touched me.

The story is set in rural Northern Michigan in the season of Fall . The little girl on the cover page yearns to go to school in the coming winter but does not have warm clothing to get her to school. Why you may ask. Because she comes from a poor family . Her father does not deem it fit for her to to attend school but her mother realising the importance of education decides to send her to school come hell or high water.

The mother and daughter duo go berry picking through out fall and everyday after they have picked a ton of berries they come back home thereafter which the mother prepares jars of jams and jellies. One can see how resourceful the mother is when her kitchen shelves are lined with empty jars of consumed Mayo, peant butter, etc. All these jars come in handy for the freshly prepared jams and jellies. The mother in the midst of all this hard work has time to prepare a sumptuous berry pie for the family too!

The father is playing his role too. How? He tells the mother and daughter that he has a surprise for them which would be ready soon. After all the jams and jellies are ready, it is time to get to some action. Yes, to sell them. This is where the father's surprise comes in. He has made a wooden stand to hold the jars of jam and jelly to be sold on the roadside to travellers. Not very long, drivers stop by and soon one of the empty jars is shining with coins of money. Holly is beaming with joy because she knows that those coins will help the family put her through school.

Winter comes along and Holly is all ready in her warm boots and jacket to attend school. Imagine how wonderful Holly must've felt in those warm and snug boots and jacket. New clothes, new shoes, new anything for that matter, brings joy not just to kids but to adults too.




A very simple story but what amazed me was the team work of the family, the hard work and the positive attitude. I told my kids how easily we get things in life whenever we want them and how this particular family strived hard to get what they wanted. We must indeed count our blessings.

Thank you Lord for giving us all that you have.

Small simple pleasures of life- they give you so much joy! My husband and I had a wonderful evening with our two brats right in the comfort of our own home. We watched a nice animation movie, ate some delightful popcorn ( the butter was not enough for me!), giggled, sobbed ( there were some poignant moments in the film) and laughed. Who would have imagined that my boys would actually sit down and watch a 90 mins movie without fighting with each other or having my husband and I hollering at them to behave themselves!

The act of watching the movie in itself was very simple but it did drive home a very significant message for me - the more quality time you spend with your kids as parents, the more rewarding your life is, the more you want to cherish these moments you spend with your kids for ever, the more your kids find immense joy to be around with you and above all, it makes everyone in the family happy..My dad always says " you know what , the boys will grow up faster than you think so enjoy them and their childhood as much as you can". Yes, dad, you have me on that one!