The Stories I Never Knew to Ask: A Guided Journal and Memory Keepsake Book for Mom, Dad, Grandma, or Grandpa
You know them as Mom or Dad, Grandma or Grandpa. But who were they before you came along?
Most of us know the same five family stories by heart. The rest never come up at dinner: what their house sounded like in the morning, the first money they ever earned, the friend who changed everything. This book makes asking easy, with gentle, specific questions and simple activities, answered in their own words and their own handwriting.
More than questions and blank lines
Sketch the childhood home from the doorway. Map how far you were allowed to roam as a kid, and where you went anyway. Write the family story the way everyone tells it, then the way you remember it. Collect the family words nobody outside the family understands.
Made for people who would rather talk than write
Nearly every topic has a tell-it-out-loud box, so your parent or grandparent can talk while someone else holds the pen. A page at the back shows how to have the conversation, and a short list at the front names the five pages that matter most. They can begin anywhere, skip anything, and never worry about getting the dates exactly right.
What’s inside
- Six chapters of a life: Where You Began, The Family Before Us, The Life You Built, What Changed You, What You Learned, and What You Want Us to Carry
- A full two-page spread for every topic, plus open pages for the stories that do not fit anywhere else
- Big 8.25 x 11 inch pages with places for photographs
- Full color printing with soft watercolor-style art, and a different color for each chapter
- A page to inscribe when you give it, a few notes on why you are asking, and a final letter written back to you
- 106 pages, available in paperback and hardcover
A gift worth giving
For Christmas, birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparents Day, or a retirement, or for any ordinary day you decide not to wait. Give it now. Then sit down and listen.
Questions
Is it for a mother, a father, or a grandparent?
Any of them. It is one book for any parent or grandparent, so you do not have to pick a version.
Do they have to fill it in themselves?
No. The tell-it-out-loud boxes are there so they can talk while you write, which is often where the best stories come out.
Do they have to finish it?
Not at all. There is no pressure to finish. Start anywhere, skip anything, and fill in as much or as little as you like.
The Stories I Never Knew to Ask, from Pencil Box Press. See all our books.