Grandparents

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Title:

Grandparents

Author:

Heras, Chema author.

Uniform Title:

Avós. English

ISBN:

9781771645669

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 23 cm.

Reading Level:

530 L Lexile

Subject Term:

Grandparents -- Fiction.

Love -- Fiction.

Older people -- Fiction.

Genre:

Picture books.

Added Author:

Osuna, Rosa, 1961-

Amado, Elisa

Summary:

In this funny and heartwarming picture book, a grandfather shows his love and appreciation for a grandmother as he persuades her to attend a local dance with him. Grandfather is tending his garden when a loudspeaker announces a dance in the local park. He asks Grandmother to join him, but she has many reasons to delay their outing: she needs to put eyeliner around her eyes--which are as sad as a moonless night--and color in her hair--which is as gray as an autumn cloud. Grandfather counters with loving arguments of his own: her sad eyes look like stars and her hair is as perfect and white as a summer cloud. Playful illustrations complement this touching banter, which culminates in a trip to the dance where Grandmother tells Grandfather, "You are as pretty as the moon." --

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake)	PICTURE BOOK HER	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Oakdale Library	PICTURE BOOK HER	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove)	PICTURE BOOK HER	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	PICTURE BOOK HER	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stillwater Public Library	PICTURE BOOK HER	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

In this funny and heartwarming picture book, a grandfather shows his love and appreciation for a grandmother as he persuades her to attend a local dance with him.

"Fun and feisty--these memorable characters are a delight to know and revisit."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Grandfather is tending his garden when a loudspeaker announces a dance in the local park. He asks Grandmother to join him, but she has many reasons to delay their outing: she needs to put eyeliner around her eyes--which are as sad as a moonless night--and color in her hair--which is as gray as an autumn cloud. Grandfather counters with loving arguments of his own: her sad eyes look like stars and her hair is as perfect and white as a summer cloud.

Playful illustrations complement this touching banter, which culminates in a trip to the dance where Grandmother tells Grandfather, "You are as pretty as the moon."

An Aldana Libros Book, Greystone Kids

Author Notes

Chema Heras is an English teacher, author, and translator from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain. He has written and edited a number of books and previously lived in Australia while working for the education department of New South Wales. The Spanish edition of Grandparents, called Abuelos, won the prestigious Premi Llibreter de Narrativa Àlbum Il.lustrat in 2003.

A graphic artist and now author and illustrator of picture books, Rosa Osuna lives and works in Madrid. Grandparents is her first book.

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 2--Manuel and Manuela, also known as Grandmother and Grandfather, celebrate aging in a jocular dialogue with unique illustrations. Manuel hears news of a dance in the village and invites Manuela. She responds that she is as "ugly as a chicken with no feathers." As she proclaims the need for beauty products to mask parts of her face and body, Manuel counters with descriptive similes of adoration about her white hair "like a midsummer cloud" and dry lips "like sand in a desert." The story builds with repetition as he adds onto his list of compliments, finishing each time with "Now please hurry up. We have to go dancing!" On the final page, as they embrace on the dance floor, vignettes of their life together, both the momentous and the mundane, float around them in pencil and watercolor illustrations. Usuna's depictions of the couple are very simple with dot and line faces. Manuela always wears a coy smile, even as she self-deprecates. The surrounding scenes play with perspective, while pops of color highlight the characters amidst a soft wash of grey and blue. While the text flows beautifully and the odd illustrations are mesmerizing, will children appreciate the poetic notions, or just hear a woman repeatedly describe all of the things she hates about her appearance? VERDICT An additonal purchase about a sweet couple whose love has outlasted the test of time.--Clara Hendricks, Cambridge Public Library, MA

Publisher's Weekly Review

This book's generic title does not hint at what it actually delivers--a warmhearted romance, with a dance party at the end. Scribbly multimedia spreads by graphic artist Osuna open on a view of portly Manuel--Grandfather--sitting in the dirt of his garden, an inquisitive bird perched on his head. A passing car broadcasts an invitation to a dance that night. His wife, Manuela--Grandmother--is not enthusiastic: "I'm not flitting from party to party like a girl anymore." Rapid-fire dialogue by Heras charms in Amado's natural-sounding translation. Grand-father coaxes Grandmother with a daisy. She resists--"I am as ugly as a chicken with no feathers"--but begins, grudgingly, to primp: "I'm going to hide my legs. They are as skinny as knitting needles." Grandfather's compliments pile up cumulatively, "Twelve Days of Christmas"--style, as quirky drawings offer more amusement, like one of Grandmother laid out on an ironing board, the better to address her wrinkles. Grandfather's boyish charm ("But you are so pretty... as pretty as the sun!"), Grandmother's sweet-tempered vanity, and their unabashed fondness for one another make it clear that grandparents are wholly alive, with their ability to flirt intact. Ages 3--8. (May)

Kirkus Review

In a refreshing departure from the norm, this Spanish import focuses on the grandparents' relationship with each other, not with a child protagonist. Balding Manuel is working in the garden when a passing car announces a dance with the "best musicians in the country." A call and response between the elders ensues after Manuela insists she is not going--but starts attending to her appearance anyway. Each time Grandfather inquires about her preparations, she bemoans her looks: "I'm going to put mascara on my eyelashes. They are as stubby as a little fly's feet." He counters her, asserting that they are like "new-mown grass." Manuel's loving if not always romantic similes build cumulatively, inviting reader participation. Wobbly ink outlines suggest a tender fragility to these characters; light gray backgrounds create their skin tones. Color and humor abound in these compositions due to the playfulness of the onlooking farm creatures and the hilarious visual interpretations of the snappy narrative. Looking in the mirror, Manuela thinks she is "as ugly as a chicken with no feathers"; an inverted image depicts just that. The design is varied and sophisticated yet caters to a child's naïve sensibilities, as when a tree grows horizontally out of the field. Ultimately, the only change to Grandmother's appearance is Grandfather's flower behind her ear; the two dance and flirt in the moonlight as intimate scenes from their past surround them. Fun and feisty--these memorable characters are a delight to know and revisit. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

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