MY GRANDMA'S PHOTOS

Through photographs, a grandmother relives her life with her grandchild before dying peacefully.

Ali’s grandma’s mind gets confused, and her body is tired. When shown old photographs, Grandma doesn’t recognize her young self. But Ali’s gentle presence helps Grandma remember. “At that moment I felt as if I were being pulled into the photo. Together with Grandma, I traveled into the past.” Through a series of black-and-white photographs, Grandma shares her life’s journey. Ali meets Grandma at different ages. Ali watches her grow up and achieve her dream of owning a dressmaking shop. When they reach the last photograph, of her wedding, Grandma decides it’s time for her to stay with Grandpa. Grandma tells Ali it’s OK to let her go, that Ali has a life to live and to capture in new photographs. Although Grandma is gone now, Ali remembers her through the photos hung all over the house. The first-person narration of this gentle picture book translated from Turkish brings a childlike sense of wonder, joy, and sadness to this story about letting go of a loved one. Although Ali is given he/him pronouns on the book jacket, no pronouns are used in the text of the book. Smudgy charcoal, textured colored pencils, and occasional collage elements, along with striking use of real photographs, create a dreamlike scrapbook. Illustrated characters have white skin and graphite-colored hair. Black-and-white photographs appear to depict people with dark hair and pale or tan skin.

A gentle book about remembering, as well as grieving, a life well lived.