The magic of grandparents is undeniable, and this book is an excellent treat for grandkids to share with their own grandmas...
Treasure could be hiding in the most surprising places.
When grandma Mimi visits her young granddaughter, the story’s narrator, the stylish black woman’s huge purse provides endless opportunities for play. The little black girl imagines herself bejeweled and bedazzled with grandma Mimi’s finery. Lipstick, hairpins, sunglasses, and candy are but a few of the riches stashed deep within the bag of possibilities, which she explores while engaged in an animated conversation about what she finds with her grandma. Brantley-Newton, a self-taught illustrator whose artwork is a combination of drawing, painting, and digital work, creates a whimsical interplay of patterns, rich color, and her trademark lively expressions. Grandma Mimi’s purse itself is a patchwork of colors and patterns, and buried within it are objects of various sizes, some that sparkle and others that are soft and silky—a beautiful visual mélange. Grandma Mimi wears big, round spectacles and has a towering, white Afro, while the narrator pairs her lacy top with jeans—it’s easy to see she gets her sense of fashion from her grandma. While the storytelling falters slightly and lacks nuance, the straightforward sweetness of the tale more than makes up for it.
The magic of grandparents is undeniable, and this book is an excellent treat for grandkids to share with their own grandmas and grandpas, or the other way around . (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-1431-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2017
A warm embrace of a book.
“My family loves me, and I love them. But we don’t use words to say ‘I love you.’ ”
As a child narrates, readers see a smiling mother, father, grandmother, and grandfather bustle about a cheery, colorful home doing chores. The narrator explains how each family member expresses their love with actions: Mom “stirs her love into a pot of steaming xī fàn” (Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese Hokkien words are sprinkled throughout and defined in a glossary), Ah Gong walks the child to school in the morning, Ah Ma packs a lunch of noodles, and Dad cheers and encourages from the sidelines of a soccer game. The child also shows love, saying, “I do my best at school so they can feel proud.” Some readers may wonder: Is Chen implying that the family’s reticence when it comes to verbally expressing their love is rooted in their being Chinese? Or is this a Chinese family that happens to be less verbally demonstrative? That’s left up to readers to decide; regardless, it’s abundantly clear from the detailed spreads and expressiveness of the characters that they are full of love for one another, with or without words. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A warm embrace of a book. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Dec. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-42839-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A quiet, warm look at the bond between grandfather and grandson.
After a visit, an African-American grandfather and grandson say farewell under a big yellow moon. Granpa tells Max it is the same moon he will see when he gets home.
This gently told story uses Max’s fascination with the moon’s ability to “tag along” where his family’s car goes as a metaphor for his grandfather’s constant love. Separating the two relatives is “a swervy-curvy road” that travels up and down hills, over a bridge, “past a field of sleeping cows,” around a small town and through a tunnel. No matter where Max travels, the moon is always there, waiting around a curve or peeking through the trees. But then “[d]ark clouds tumbled across the night sky.” No stars, no nightingales and no moon are to be found. Max frets: “Granpa said it would always shine for me.” Disappointed, Max climbs into bed, missing both the moon and his granpa. In a dramatic double-page spread, readers see Max’s excitement as “[s]lowly, very slowly, Max’s bedroom began to fill with a soft yellow glow.” Cooper uses his signature style to illustrate both the landscape—sometimes viewed from the car windows or reflected in the vehicle’s mirror—and the expressive faces of his characters. Coupled with the story’s lyrical text, this is a lovely mood piece.
A quiet, warm look at the bond between grandfather and grandson. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: June 13, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-399-23342-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2013
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
