Eighteen Flowers for Grandma

K-Gr 2–Sadie is determined to make a gift that is as sweet, creative, and filled with life as her grandmother is. Over their treasured weekly get-together to make art, Grandma explains how the Hebrew letters that spell chai add up to 18, a lucky number. Inspired, Sadie will make 18 of something to celebrate her grandmother’s upcoming graduation from college. But what? A flower arrangement that Grandma admires at a cousin’s wedding finally gives Sadie an idea that is “Grandma enough”: a bouquet of 18 individual flowers crafted from all of her art supplies. The relationship between Sadie and her grandmother is warmly depicted as Grandma dispenses wisdom and gives Sadie her full attention. Sadie’s efforts at gift-making are pretty creative, so it may be hard to understand her dissatisfaction with her first attempts, or why her ultimate gift is so much better. The gentle, rounded illustrations employ gray with a muted palette of pastel colors, sometimes with overhead perspectives or flurries of art supplies.