Three Pieces of Broken Glass: A Picture Book

A beautiful blend of concrete objects and memory, of past and present.

Balancing soft washes of color for tender moments with images of glass cracking and shattering, Stamper's lovely watercolor and gouache illustrations bring life and depth to the events and the pale-skinned characters...Sweet, heartfelt, and altogether wonderful.

A beloved relative's treasured artifacts convey events personal and historical in this meaningful telling from Barth Isler (The Color of Sound), making a picture book debut inspired by a family story, and Stamper (A Knot Is Not a Tangle). An unnamed child narrator enjoys visiting Great-Grandma Inge, who "sets the table like it's a special occasion... and serves our water in fancy glasses." When the youth inadvertently shatters one of the rose-tinged vessels, the woman offers comfort, saying, "It's not only good luck to break glass sometimes, but it's also tradition," and gestures to three shards on the windowsill. Depictions of the events behind each follow: one, part of a glass crushed under the bridegroom's foot on Great-Grandma Inge's wedding day, is a token of "all sixty-five years they were married, and... a reminder of their love." The other two relate to difficult events of WWII. The first, from Germany's Kristallnacht, was an indicator that "it was time to leave our home and find a new place, where we could be safe"; the other is a good luck piece that preceded the family's wartime reunification. Watercolor and gouache illustrations depict the past in b&w and the present in full color. Jagged cracks reflect destruction, separation, and the world coming apart, while transparent feathery washes background rich, detailed scenes of new lives coming together. An author's note concludes. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Emily Keyes, Keyes Agency. Illustrator's agent: Lori Kilkelly, LK Literary. (Apr.)

Copyright 2026 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Gr 1-3--Watercolor and gouache illustrations show a golden and pink pastel-colored world that moves back and forth through darker times and happier stories. Great-grandmother Inge sits with her grandchild after a special glass has broken. She tells of three pieces of broken glass on the window sill, one from her wedding, long ago, and the luck it was to bring; she mentions Kristallnacht, the night of such historic importance to Jews and a marker of the early days of World War II. The third piece of glass was from an accident occurring while Inge was in a work camp. to her mother, signified that something positive was about to happen. The storytelling switches in voice and perspective, with the events of the wedding told in narrated flashbacks, the Night of the Broken Glass relayed in conversation, as are the details of the work camp. An author's note explains the fictionalization of true family stories, and the choice of broken glass as the extended metaphor. The illustrations keep pace with the transitions between past and present. It's a heartfelt, perfectly serviceable way of teaching children about culture and important historical moments, but the story feels forced and convenient. VERDICT Add to picture book collections to expand on Jewish culture and history through the prism of a warm, intergenerational afternoon.--Kimberly Olson Fakih

Copyright 2025 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Balancing soft washes of color for tender moments with images of glass cracking and shattering, Stamper's lovely watercolor and gouache illustrations bring life and depth to the events and the pale-skinned characters...Sweet, heartfelt, and altogether wonderful.

A beautiful blend of concrete objects and memory, of past and present.