The relatable, touching story of an elderly matriarch who sews love into cozy quilts.
In this gentle, well-crafted picture book for young children, an elderly matriarch lovingly sews quilts for her numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren and receives an unexpected gift of love in return.
Kind and caring Great-Grandma decides to give her 35 grandchildren and great-grandchildren a gift that will remind them of her “love every night and every morning, and that will make them smile.” She sets about crafting quilted comforters for each one of them. Made with her own hands, each comforter will be “warm and soft, just like a hug.” At first, Great-Grandma plans to piece together the nearly three-dozen patchwork quilts, but with a between-the-lines poignancy that will resonate with adults, the author conveys the elderly woman’s realization of time passing: “Great-Grandma was a wise woman and she knew her hands were getting tired,” and she determines that sewing “thirty-five solid-colored comforters of love” will be better than “six pieced quilts of struggle.” One by one, the comforters take shape, with two small helpers in attendance: great-grandson Walter and great-granddaughter Gretchen, who asks if she might keep the pretty scraps of cloth that she collects from the floor as Great-Grandma works. The scraps are “remnants,” explains Great-Grandma, “leftover bits that are too tiny to do much with,” but Gretchen takes them home to her mother, who carefully stores the remnants away. Finally, the quilting is done, and Great-Grandma’s warm and cozy gifts are boxed up, sent, and received with love and appreciation by all the recipients. But how can the family reciprocate? In this story of familial caring, told with simplicity and sweetness—and complemented by quiet illustrations in soft colors—Gretchen’s mom has the answer: a handmade gift for Great-Grandma that comes with a “warm and soft” hug of its own. Endearingly presented with simple but resonant affection, this picture book celebrates multigenerational families, and it will have children appreciating them, too.
The relatable, touching story of an elderly matriarch who sews love into cozy quilts.Pub Date: Dec. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-1613464649
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Tate Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren.
In talk-show host Fallon and illustrator Ordóñez’s latest picture-book collaboration, an elderly pooch waxes rhapsodic about a life well lived.
Observing Papa sitting in his chair watching TV all day, a young pup says, “I’m starting to think…you don’t do ANYTHING.” So Papa proceeds to list his accomplishments, both big and small, mundane and profound. Some are just a result of being older and physically bigger (being tall enough to reach a high shelf and strong enough to open jars); others include winning a race and performing in a band when he was younger. Eventually, the pup realizes that while Papa may have slowed down in his old age, he’s led a full life. The most satisfying thing about Papa’s life now? Watching his grandchild take center stage: “I can say lots of thoughts / but I choose to be quiet. / I’d rather you discover things and then try it.” Fallon’s straightforward text is sweetly upbeat, though it occasionally lacks flow, forcing incongruous situations together to fit the rhyme scheme (“I cook and I mow, / and I once flew a plane. // I play newspaper puzzles because it’s good for my brain”). Featuring uncluttered, colorful backgrounds, Ordóñez’s child-friendly digital art at times takes on sepia tones, evoking the sense of looking back at old photos or memories. Though the creators tread familiar ground, the love between Papa and his little one is palpable.
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781250393975
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 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.
