GRANDMA’S HURRYING CHILD

“Tell me about the day I was born.” Yolen takes that simple sentence and weaves a gentle tale of love and caring between a grandmother and her grandchild. Mandy is nicknamed a hurrying child, because Mama and Daddy hurried to the hospital while far, far away, Grandma hurried to the train station. Wishing the train would go faster, Grandma works on her knitting and hopes she arrives in time. When she gets there, she hurries up the stairs and into Mama’s hospital room just in time to admire Mandy’s dark hair, blue eyes and little voice crying, “I am here!” Chorao’s soft pastels soften the tension as one page shows the parents and the facing page shows the grandmother—all rushing to their places. Then she uses diagonals across two double-spreads, bringing the action even closer together. A sweet addition to the genre. (Picture book 3-7)