A photo album of grandparents and grandchildren provides readers with many reasons as to why grandparents are the best. The book features actual, hand-tinted photographs of grandparents and grandchildren in coordinating pastel frames. The phrase, “Grandparents are the greatest because” runs throughout the book, with reasons why – “They cheer you up with smooches/and big warm squeezes… elephants don’t scare them,/and neither do dinosaurs with big, sharp teeth” – running along the bottom of the photos. Embedded in the illustrated frames are quotes from either the adult or the child featured in the photo. The photos are affectionate (a grandmother hugging her grandson at what looks like a family wedding) and inspiring (a grandfather shows his grandson his army uniform as his grandson wears his hat). The endpapers feature different ways of saying grandmother and grandfather in different languages and different nicknames for them, like “Mamaw” and “Papaw”. Children will enjoy these loving photographs of grandparents and this celebration of grandparents and grandchildren alike.
This would be a great addition to a read-aloud on families, specifically grandparents. National Grandparents Day is September 8; this may be a good reason to get grandparents into the library with their grandchildren. The Perry Public Library has a Grandparents Day storytime theme that includes songs and rhymes, and the children can get up and dance with their grandparents at the conclusion, perhaps doing the Hokey Pokey or Ring Around the Rosie.
