GREAT-GRANDFATHER, THE BABY AND ME

by Howard Knotts ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 18, 1978

This might be described as a treatment of/for sibling blues, but it so transcends any such bibliotherapeutic category that this shouldn't limit its audience. Feeling lonely and insecure while he waits for his father to bring mother and the new baby home from the hospital, the little narrator is treated to great-grandfather's reminiscence about how, as a 16-year-old orphan, he was harvesting wheat in Canada, and how ""in that big empty country"" news of a baby's being born prompted him and his friend to ride for hours just to see it. As great-grandfather begins to talk, the little boy ""stopped seeing the leaves of the apple tree and saw a field of yellow wheat instead""--and Knotts makes his audience see it too, and catch the feeling of that long-ago experience. As for the little boy's reception of the baby--well, great-grandfather has made his point, and Knotts knows better than to spoil a lovely moment with a too-explicit wrapup.

Pub Date: Oct. 18, 1978

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1978

Categories: CHILDREN'S