Skip to main content

GRANDPA GREEN

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Smith, Lane. 2011. GRANDPA GREEN. New York City, NY: Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 9781596436077

2.  PLOT SUMMARY
Grandpa Green is a journey through a topiary wonderland. Lane Smith is both author and illustrator and paints the poignant picture of one man’s life as seen through the eyes of his great grandson and the topiaries. As the great grandson narrates the story, we learn that Grandpa Green grew up on a farm, long before computers or other electronic gadgets. A bout with chicken pox in fourth grade led to a lengthy stay at home, where Grandpa read about secret gardens and began a love of horticulture. During World War II, he met his wife in Paris and together they enjoyed their life and children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. And just like a secret garden, there is a treasure awaiting the reader at the end of this book in the form of a double-page foldout which will delight both kids and adults. In the end, we learn that grandpa forgets things, but not the important things, because the garden topiaries help him to remember.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Lane’s writing goes straight to the heart, especially for anyone who has experienced an aging loved one with memory issues. There is a nod to Alzheimers, but it doesn’t overtake the story. Lane’s illustrations bring the narrative to life with an interaction between the characters and topiary figures. Through the topiaries, we experience the living journey of Grandpa’s life from birth to great grandfather. As an illustrator, Lane plays with shades of green to add dimension and bring the reader into the garden itself. The result is that reader walks with the great-grandson through the topiary vista of Grandpa's life. This book is a must-read for any parent grappling with the explanation of Alzheimers to their young children. And as a Caldecott honor book, it is a worthwhile study of color for artists of all ages. The simplicity of green underscores the simple beauty of the love between grandparent and grandchild.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
SWEETONBOOKS.COM: “Lane Smith seems to be looking for the meaning of life while creating picture books, and lucky for us readers, we get to go on the journey with him.”
KIRKUS REVIEW: “The illustrations say what the text doesn't need to—that the love between boy and elder is elemental and honest.”

5. CONNECTIONS
*A great book for teaching kids about the dignity of aging.
*Visit Lane Smith’s web site to learn about the author. There’s a video section which includes Kelly Ripa and Regis Philbin extolling the virtues of Lane Smith’s picture book, It’s a Book.
*Awards: Caldecott Honor Book, PUBLISHER WEEKLY'S Best Children’s Book, A NEW YORK TIMES Best Illustrated Book

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FOREST HAS A SONG

Vanderwater, Amy FOREST HAS A SONG. Ill. by Robbin Gourley. ISBN 9780618843497. CRITICAL ANALYSIS Amy Vanderwater brings us a hearty collection of 26 poems. They weave together the story of one girl’s experience in the forest over the course of a year. The poems begin with spring and then merge into summer, with poems like APRIL WAKING and PUFF. Fall and winter poems wrap up this collection, including MAPLES IN OCTOBER and COLORFUL ACTOR. Each poem brings the reader into the forest, so we enjoy the romp through each season with the girl. VanDerwater’s use of language leads the reader to experience the sounds and rhythms of the forest. By employing italics, she brings the forest’s perspective in some poems, which serves as a wonderful point-of-view experience for the young reader. The collection is superbly  illustrated by Robbin Gourley. At its best, illustrations tell a visual story which parallels and enhances the textual message. Gourley does this brilli...
2 comments
Read more

TRICKS

Hopkins, Ellen. 2009. TRICKS. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division. ISBN 9781416950073.  TRICKS takes us on the journey of five teens descending into the seedy world of teen prostitution. Eden is the daughter of a preacher. Her mother sees demons in Eden’s first brush with love and sends her off to prevent whorish behavior, which Eden ironically learns at the ranch where she’s sent. Cody deals with the devastating loss of his stepfather to cancer by spiraling downward into the world of gambling. He soon will sell anything to pay his increasing debts. Seth is looking for love and acceptance of his homosexual identity, only to be accused by his father of being a deviant; then, he becomes one. Whitney desperately seeks love from her socialite mother and successful father. She wants to be seen and noticed by them, but will accept the love of a stranger to replace her familial invisibility. And finally Ginger, who is tricked for the fi...
3 comments
Read more

THE CROSSOVER

BIBLIOGRAPHY Alexander, Kwame. 2014. CROSSOVER. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780544107717. CRITICAL ANALYSIS I had the opportunity to listen to Kwame Alexander speak at the Texas Library Association conference in San Antonio in April 2014. He spoke on the impetus for Crossover: to write a verse novel for boys. And not just any boy, but the sports-loving, poetry-hating, I-don’t-go-to-the-library sort of boy. I was completely intrigued and knew I had to read this book, because he’s absolutely correct in noticing the gap in this genre’s niche: most verse novels are written to appeal to girls, and boys who do read verse novels are already vested in their own reading identity. But could he pull it off? I will freely admit, although I loved the cover, that I was a bit skeptical of the goal. I’m a middle school librarian, so I really wanted to meet the verse novel which could hook my sports-loving, poetry-hating, I-don’t-go-to-the-library boys into reading i...
1 comment
Read more