Abuelita and Abuelito, Dedushka and Babushka, Obaachan and Ojiichan--whatever children may call them, it's their day: Grandparents Day, this Sunday, September 8. What better way to unite grandparents and children than with a good book? Here are a few old and new favorites to celebrate.
Our Grandparents: A Global Album by Maya Ajmera, Sheila Kinkade and Cynthia Pon (Charlesbridge) features photographs of families around the world and suggests activities for readers to do with their grandparents. A trio of stories about three families--one white, one interracial, one Asian American--in the Caldecott Honor book More, More, More, Said the Baby by Vera Williams (Greenwillow) exudes the joy of a new baby, showered with affection. My Abuelita by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Yuyi Morales (Houghton Mifflin), unspools as a detective story sprinkled with Spanish words, as the boy narrator hints at Abuelita's profession (she's a storyteller).
Childtimes: A Three-Generation Memoir by Eloise Greenfield, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney (HarperCollins), with its scrapbook feel, family photographs and moments of history in one African American family, may well prompt grandparents to pull out their own photo albums. Grandmothers are the saving grace in Kevin Henkes's Newbery Honor book Olive's Ocean (Greenwillow), Cynthia Voigt's Newbery Medal–winning Dicey's Song (part of the Tillerman Cycle, Atheneum) and in R.J. Palacio's Wonder (Knopf). In The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata (Atheneum), narrator Summer grows to appreciate her grandparents' wisdom over the course of the Midwest harvest season.
For a rollicking good time, Frog Trouble by Sandra Boynton (Workman) will get children and grandparents up on their feet, singing with the CD and songbook, and dancing the Alligator Stroll. And The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) makes a terrific read-aloud for grandparents to share with grandchildren of all ages (both reviewed below). --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness