Grandpa's Stories

PreS-Gr 3—This is a gentle tale about a young girl processing the death of her beloved grandpa. The title opens with a small child holding her grandpa's hand. He says, "You're too old to hold hands." The next page depicts the duo looking up at a bird's nest and talking: "We explore hand in hand the budding springtime." Even though the message is a difficult one, the illustrations effectively lighten the mood. For example, the next page of text says, "If all the world were springtime I would replant my grandpa's birthdays so that he would never get old." There is a two-page spread of illustrations showing the girl surrounded by wildflowers, including red poppies, red coneflowers, white daisies, and yellow black-eyed Susans, as critters such as brightly colored butterflies, ladybugs and a snail enjoy the world. The story goes through the seasons and portrays the girl and her grandpa enjoying adventures together. His death is conveyed when the readers are shown grandpa's empty chair with his slippers. The narrative continues with the girl helping her parents clean Grandpa's room and discovering he kept souvenirs of their special times together. To honor his memory, she writes and draws about past experiences with Grandpa.