About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

Grandmas and grandpas, rejoice! There is finally a book which celebrates the grandparent-grandchild relationship with humor and sass, rather than with cloying sentimentality. Witty text by Sally Lloyd-Jones is paired with lively animal art by Michael Emberley to create a book that you'll never tire of reading to your grandchildren. Chances are that they'll still be interested even when they're old enough to read it to you.



Pros

• Appealing Illustrations
• Clever Premise
• Engaging Text
• Easy-to-Read Font
• Sturdy Hard Cover With Book Jacket

Cons

• Some Cliched Depictions of Grandparents

Description

• Published by Harper Collins
• Published in April 2008
• Full-Color Illustrations
• 32 Pages

Guide Review - The Ultimate Guide to Grandmas and Grandpas

The Ultimate Guide to Grandmas and Grandpas uses the device of being a guide for grandchildren in the proper way to treat grandparents. "When you have a grandma or a grandpa," reads the first page, "you need to sing to them and dance for them and paint lovely pictures for them." The book goes on to describe common grandparent-grandchild interactions such as playing games, telling stories, sharing meals and going to the beach.

The author's sly humor is exhibited in the page on napping, advising grandchildren to nap with their grandparents when they are tired, "so they're not the only ones." When playing games with grandparents, grandchildren are advised to "sometimes let them win." The book closes with the expected device of advising grandchildren to kiss and hug and love their grandparents, but the winning animal characters ward off any feeling of cliche.

Illustrations by Michael Emberly add to the charm of the text. Each scene is illustrated using a different animal species, but the animals are clothed like humans and look remarkably like someone's grandma or grandpa. Emberly's style will be familiar to fans of You Read To Me, I'll Read to You, also illustrated by Emberly. I have one small quibble with Emberly's illustrations. His animal grandparents tend to be stereotypical, spectacle-wearing grandparents. The spirit is so gentle, however, that no offense is taken. In fact, I loved his near-sighted koala and the sheep grandparents wearing matching sweatsuits. Besides, he also features a burly, ball-carrying grandma.

All in all, The Ultimate Guide to Grandmas and Grandpas is a worthy addition to grandma's bookshelf, and even grandpa will get a kick out of it.