"Resources for Children and Teens About Alzheimer's Disease"... This is the story of young Zach, who spends summers on a lake with his beloved grandparents. When Gramps develops Alzheimer’s, his memory sometimes fails, and Zach has to help him out. Zach and his grandparents start a memory box, a wooden box filled with treasures to help everyone remember the times they shared. For ages 6-9.

"Books to Teach Children About Alzheimer’s" ... I called my highly opinionated friend Marjorie Ingall... who reviews children’s books for The New York Times. ... The book we both liked — I felt so validated — was “The Memory Box”... it’s a lovely tale of a boy already feeling the loss of his grandfather. ...

Grade 1-3-- Zach's summer visit with his grandparents takes an unexpected turn when he learns that his grandfather has Alzheimer's disease. Gramps tells him that it's time to start a special box to store their family tales and traditions. ... The bittersweet text is beautifully written, conveying the tender relationships through the young boy's believable narrative. Cunningham's gouache illustrations are lovely, radiating the tranquil peace of the lake, house, and surrounding woods. Simple books on Alzheimer's disease are scarce.... However, The Memory Box depicts the early stages of the disease in more detail and offers an imaginative suggestion for positive action. A moving, sympathetic, and ultimately comforting book.

Gramps sometimes forgets to shave, cuts his feet when he accidentally leaves home without shoes on and talks to a daughter who isn't there. The problem is Alzheimer's disease: he knows it, Gram knows it and young Zach, the narrator, knows it. The memory box is a small carved wooden treasure chest of bits of paper recording the good times, filled by the three of them. … Rich, uncomplicated illustrations deftly delineate the scene… and the players in this quiet and touching drama. ... Ages 7-11.

[Starred Review] Ages 5-8. In recent years, there have been a number of books about children dealing with their grandparents' Alzheimer's disease. Often the books are bland at best, didactic at worst. This sensitive offering circumvents the pitfalls of "disease books" and proves itself to be a fitting tribute to love. ... Unlike other books on the topic, where the elderly relative is often beyond recognition, this grandfather remains himself most of the time. Knowing he'll forget makes his struggle for memories all the more poignant.