grandparents

Review: Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena

| Tasha

last stop on market street

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena, illustrated by Christian Robinson

Take a ride across town on a bus with CJ and his grandmother. Every Sunday after church CJ and his grandmother get on a bus and take a long ride. Along the way, they meet all sorts of people on the bus. There is a man who is blind, a busker who plays the guitar, teenagers who listen to music on their iPods. CJ longs for some of the things he sees, like his friends who have cars to drive places, the iPods the teens have, and the free time his friends have on Sunday afternoons. But his grandmother sees the beauty in the ride, in the other passengers and in the time they spend together. At the end of the ride, they get off in a poorer section of town and head to the soup kitchen which is ringed by a rainbow in the sky. CJ is glad that they made the trip once they are there.

De la Pena is best known for his young adult books.  This is the second picture book he has written.  One would never know that this is not his specialty.  His wording is just perfect for preschoolers, inviting them along on the journey to discover new things on each page. His words form a tapestry of a community, diverse and dynamic. The journey is about more than just seeing new things though, it is also about seeing them differently and in a positive way. From the rain falling to the poor section of town, they are all reframed by CJ’s grandmother into something beautiful.

Robinson’s illustrations are done in acrylic paint and collage.  They are bright, vibrant and filled with people of different colors living happily side-by-side. They capture the busy urban setting with a sense of community that is warm, friendly and fun.

A great journey to take any preschooler on, this picture book celebrates making a positive difference in your community.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from G. P. Putnam’s Sons.

Review: The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye

| Tasha

turtle of oman

The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye

Aref’s family is moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan from where he has always lived in Muscat, Oman.  After his father heads off ahead of Aref and his mother, the two of them head home to finish packing and for his mother to finish working.  But Aref does not want to leave Oman, leave his bedroom to his cousins who will be living there while they are gone for several years, leave his pet cat behind.  But particularly, he does not want to leave his grandfather.  Aref pretends to pack, but finds himself playing instead, riding his bike, ignoring the packing entirely.  His mother gets frustrated and asks Siddi, his grandfather, for a hand.  So the Aref and Siddi head out on a series of adventures that let them spend time together, but also let Aref say goodbye to his beloved Oman and be open enough to greet the future in Michigan.

Nye is the author of Habibi as well as an acclaimed poet.  Her novel is short and wonderfully vivid, painting a picture of Oman for young readers who will be drawn to the natural beauty.  Readers will also be taken by the loving family, where parenting is done with grace and kindness, and where a grandfather is willing to spend lots of time saying farewell, as much time as a child needs. 

Nye’s writing shows her poetic skills again and again.  Her prose reads like verse, filled with imagery and striking wording.  When Aref goes to the sea with his grandfather, Nye describes it like this:

The sky loomed with a few delicate lines of wavery cloud, one under the other.  It looked like another blue ocean over the watery blue sea.  Aref took a deep breath and tried to hold all the blue inside his body, pretending for a moment he didn’t have to move away or say good-bye to anything or share his room and cat, none of it.

Many of the moments with Aref and his grandfather are written like this, celebrating the tiny pieces of beauty in the world, relishing the time, treasuring the wonder.  Her book is like a jewel, faceted and lovely to turn and marvel at.

This short novel is a vivid and majestic look at the Middle East, at familial love, and at the special relationship of a boy and his grandfather.  Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Greenwillow Books and Edelweiss.

Review: Forget Me Not by Nancy Van Laan

| Tasha

forget me not

Forget Me Not by Nancy Van Laan, illustrated by Stephanie Graegin

This look at the impact of Alzheimer’s is personal and touching.  Told in the first person, the book looks at the changes of Julia’s grandmother.  Her grandmother used to make favorite foods, have her house just so, and even smelled of cinnamon and lilac when they cuddled.  But as time passed, her grandmother started forgetting more and more.  She made mistakes and even started to forget who her family members were.  A little later and Julia’s grandmother started to forget what they had done together in the past, she wasn’t allowed to drive anymore, and her cooking wasn’t the same.  She got worse and worse until she had to be given special care in a home.  Julia and her family have to make the best of it, and that means that Julia has to find a way to continue to connect with her grandmother even though she can’t remember her.

Van Laan uses a delicacy of language her to weave her story.  Since the entire book is about loss of memory and the loss of a grandparent to Alzheimer’s, this delicacy sets a lovely tone for the book.  As the changes start to happen, Van Laan describes them: “But ever so slowly, like a low tide leaving the bay, a change came along.”  Filled with constant change, the book captures moments along the way, showing how Julia’s grandmother is worsening but also how they continue to keep her spirit alive and well during the changes.

Graegin’s illustrations show the changes in the grandmother but also maintain a sweetness that never leaves the story.  Despite the grandmother’s decline, the light remains bright in the illustrations and the family stays close knit in a visual way.

There are many books about Alzheimer’s available now, but this one takes just the right tone and gives information that young children are looking for.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from digital galley from Edelweiss and Random House Children’s Books.

Review: The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer

| Tasha

secret hum of a daisy

The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer

Grace can’t stand being near the river, because that’s where she found her mother’s body.  It was right after they had argued about moving once again.  Grace wanted to stay where she finally felt at home, but her mother wanted to move again.  Now Grace has been sent to live with her mother’s mother, a grandmother she has never known.  She only wants to return to the family she and her mother had been staying with last, but she has to come up with a plan to escape.  In the meantime, Grace starts to find clues to a treasure hunt, similar to the ones her mother did for her every time they moved to a new town.  Is it her mother creating a final path for her daughter to find a home?  Or could it be that Grace is just seeing patterns where there are none?

Holczer shows great depth and richness in this her first book.  In this character-driven novel, she excels at the relationships she builds between her vividly drawn characters.   Grace is a character in search of a place to call home, but unable to see a home when it is right in front of her and unable to register the love being shown her.  She is complicated in a very organic way, her reactions honest and true.  The same is true of the grandmother character who radiates frankness but also regret for what happened over the years with her daughter.  She is a very complex adult character, particularly for a book for middle grade students. 

Holczer’s writing itself is straight-forward, allowing a sturdy framework for these character to relate to each other within.  The writing rings with confidence and Holczer asks deep questions about death, what dead people can communicate to the living, and what makes a family.  The answers are not simple and are not easily arrived at.  They come about very naturally and one must wait to see what the truths are and where the characters will arrive in this beautifully paced novel.

Rich, organic and special, this middle grade novel offers us all a view of what a second chance at family can be.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Penguin.

Review: Grandfather Gandhi by Arun Gandhi

| Tasha

grandfather gandhi

Grandfather Gandhi by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus, illustrated by Evan Turk

When Arun went to stay at his grandfather Mahatma Gandhi’s village, he worried that he would not be able to live up to his famous name.  Arun walked all the way from the station to the village and made his grandfather proud, but he continued to fret that he would not do the right thing the next time.  The village was very different from where he lived before.  Arun had to share his grandfather’s attention with 350 followers who lived there as well.  Arun struggled with his studies and the other kids teased him as well.  He found the meditation and prayers difficult too.  His grandfather urged him to give it time, that peace would come.  However, Arun just found it more and more frustrating.  When Arun finally lost his temper with another boy, he had to tell his grandfather about it, worried that he would be told that he would never live up to his name.  How will Mahatma Gandhi react to this angry young man?

Gandhi relates his own memories of his grandfather, offering his honest young reactions to this amazing yet also formidable man.  The book resulted from Arun recounting childhood stories aloud.  Hegedus emailed him afterwards and asked to work on a book with him, though she felt very unworthy of such a project.  The book is beautifully written and speaks to everyone who has felt that electric anger surge through them too.  Hegedus sets the stage very nicely for the lesson, allowing time for Arun’s anger to build even as she shows the lifestyle of the village and Mahatma Gandhi himself.  It is a book that is crafted for the most impact, building to that moment of truth.

Turk’s illustrations add much to the book.  Using mixed media, he offers oranges, purples, deep pinks and more that show the heat not only of the climate but of Arun’s anger.  Throughout, he also uses fabrics for the clothing, creating three-dimensional depth to the paintings.  When Arun’s emotions flare, the illustrations show that with tangles of black thread that all bring readers back to the image of Gandhi spinning neat white thread.  The contrast is subtle and profound.

Personal and noteworthy, this is a picture book about Gandhi that is entirely unique and special.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord

| Tasha

half a chance

Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord

Lucy and her family have moved often, following her father’s love of new places to photograph.  So when they move to New Hampshire and a house on a lake, the moving process is nothing new.  On her first day at the lake, Lucy meets Nate, a boy who summers on the lake with his family and grandmother.  Nate invites her along to help document the loons that live on the lake and soon Lucy is out on the lake every day.  Lucy longs to be a great photographer like her father, who has left for the entire summer on a photography shoot.  So she decides to enter a photo contest for youth, the only problem is that her father is the judge.  As Lucy sets out to prove her own skill at taking photos, she finds herself on a different parallel journey, one that will reveal new friends, expose difficult truths, and one that is far more important than winning any contest.

Lord has written another exceptional book for middle graders.  Lord excels at creating seemingly simple books that open with a premise and then blossom into something far more complex by the end.  Here she explores several themes that center on families.  There is the deteriorating grandmother who is aware of what is happening but unable to stop it.  There is Lucy’s own family that is fractured at times but remains strong.  There is a search for approval that Lucy undergoes as well as her own harsh criticism of her work.  Through it all, honesty is overarching, an unflinching sense of reality and truth that makes it impossible to look away.

Beautifully written, the entire book is memorable.  Lucy is a great character, a strong heroine who has self-confidence issues but is also talented, friendly and warm.  She is a rare young character who moves often with her family and yet the book is not about her scars from that transient life.  Rather it is about so many other things that that is just a small factor in a rich tapestry of her world.

Brilliant, soaring and honest, this book is another great read from one of the best.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from digital galley received from NetGalley and Scholastic.

Review: Tea Cakes for Tosh by Kelly Starling Lyons

| Tasha

tea cakes for tosh

Tea Cakes for Tosh by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by E. B. Lewis

Tosh loved spending time with his grandma Honey, who baked him tea cakes.  She told him stories of the cakes, dating all the way back to his great-great-great-great-grandma Ida who made the best tea cakes around.  But those tea cakes were not for her children, they were for her owners since she was a slave.  Sometimes though, she would make some extra cakes for her children to promise that things would change.  Honey started to forget things, like where she parked her car and phone numbers.  Then one day, she forgot how to make tea cakes.  Luckily, Tosh knew just how to help.

Lyons has created a relationship between grandmother and grandchild here that is warm and loving and filled with sweet baked good too.  She shows the importance of generation in a family by tying in the history of the tea cakes.  I appreciate seeing a boy’s relationship with his grandmother where the boy is also interested in his heritage and being in the kitchen. 

Lewis has illustrated the book with realistic watercolors that capture the relationship of the two main characters.  He switches to black and white images when family history is discussed and shows the tea cakes on recipe cards too.  The entire book is filled with warm colors that speak to the sunny relationship being depicted.

A beauty of a book, this picture book celebrates family heritage, grandparents and the power of food to bring people closer together.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: A Special Gift for Grammy by Jean Craighead George

| Tasha

special gift for grammy

A Special Gift for Grammy by Jean Craighead George, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

Hunter collected a big pile of stones and put them on his grandmother’s porch.  When his father and grandmother ask him what she is meant to do with them, Hunter replied, “What everyone does with a pile of stones.”  Hunter turned out to be right.  Everyone who saw the stack of stones knew just how to use one or more of them.  The postal carrier used one to weigh down the mail on a breezy day.  Workmen used them as hammers or weights.  They are used to stop wheels from rolling and show people what way to turn.  When Hunter returned only six little stones were left.  But this time it’s Grammy who knows just what to do with them.

I have one big issue with this book: the title.  It does very little to convey the charm that is inside this book.  I love the idea of a pile of stones that everyone borrows from and uses.  Then the end of the book is intensely satisfying.  I must admit though that with the uninteresting title, I almost passed on this book, expecting it to be a book about the death of a grandparent or a saccharine poem about familial love.  Instead it is a well-designed look at community, family and connections.  I’d much rather have had the title reference the stone pile or stones or rocks. 

The illustrations are done in collage, acrylic and pencil.  They have gorgeous deep colors, combined with lots of texture from the collage.  The collage is done in such a subtle way that it is almost invisible, just adding a level of texture and pattern to the paintings. 

This book truly is a special gift, but one that could use a new title.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from HarperCollins Publishers.

Review: One Frozen Lake by Deborah Jo Larson

| Tasha

one frozen lake

One Frozen Lake by Deborah Jo Larson, illustrated by Steven Johnson and Lou Fancher

A boy and his grandfather head out on the frozen lake to go fishing.  They drill through four inches of ice and set up their canvas ice shack.  Inside they open their tackle box and have four watery holes to fish through.  Other join them out on the ice and cocoa is shared, but after seven hours they haven’t seen a single fish.  They play cards together and wait until night falls then, a fish!  A ten incher and a keeper!  But the boy has different ideas than a fish dinner.  This picture book captures the quiet times spent fishing out on the ice with a loved one.  It’s sure to appeal to children who have headed out themselves and waiting those long hours for just one bite.

Larson nicely weaves numbers and counting into her words in this book.  One frozen lake, two friends, three bundles of gear, four inches of ice, five hours to wait.  Then she starts again from one, building her poetic story upon the foundation of counting.  But this is not a counting book, instead it is a celebration of Minnesota winters and family.

The art here is exceptional.  The story above the ice is shown in realistic paintings that show with accuracy the relationship between grandfather and grandson.  The tones are bright, sun-filled but also cold as a northern winter should be.  Below the ice is a completely different world.  There the images are done as collages with whimsical old-fashioned touches taken from signs and flyers.  The result is a pairing that shows the stark difference between surface and depths.

Growing up on a Wisconsin lake, this picture book brought back many memories of walking the frozen lake and seeing the shanties.  It’s sure to do the same for many grandparents and grandchildren.  This is definitely a keeper!  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.