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Summary
Summary
The love between many generations shines brightly in this story grandparents, parents, and grandchildren will treasure.
Tommy is four years old, and he loves visiting the home of his grandmother, Nana Downstairs, and his great-grandmother, Nana Upstairs. But one day Tommy's mother tells him Nana Upstairs won't be there anymore, and Tommy must struggle with saying good-bye to someone he loves.
This wonderful generational story, a classic in its own right, celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary in a new, full-color edition, joining the other appealing picture books in which Tomie dePaola draws upon his childhood memories.
In re-creating the art, Tomie said, "Creating this art was as emotional an experience for me now as it was then."
"In a quietly touching story the author-illustrator depicts loving family relationships so that even the very young reader can understand the concept."- Publishers Weekly
* "Children will want to hear this again and again..." - School Library Journal (starred review)
Author Notes
Tomie dePaola was born in Meriden, Connecticut on September 15, 1934. He received a B.F.A. from Pratt Institute in 1956, a M.F.A. from California College of Arts and Crafts in 1969, and a doctoral equivalency from Lone Mountain College in 1970.
He has written and/or illustrated more than 270 books including 26 Fairmount Avenue, Strega Nona, Meet the Barkers, Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs, and Oliver Button Is a Sissy. He has received numerous awards for his work including the Caldecott Honor Award, the Newbery Honor Award and the New Hampshire Governor's Arts Award of Living Treasure. His murals and paintings can be seen in many churches and monasteries throughout New England. He has designed greeting cards, magazine and record album covers, and theater sets. His work is shown in galleries and museums.
Tomie dePaola died on March 30, 2020 because of complications he had from surgery after a fall.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Every Sunday Tommy loves to visit his grandmother, Nana Downstairs, who always seems to be in the kitchen cooking, and his great-grandmother, Nana Upstairs, who stays in her bedroom because she is 94 four years old. There's a special bond between four-year-old Tommy and Nana Upstairs that is marked by long talks and sharing mint candies. It is especially sad when his great-grandmother dies. With the help of his family. Tommy comes to understand that she is still alive in his memory. When Tommy is grown and Nana Downstairs dies, he experiences the same sadness but now feels that both women are watching over him as stars in the sky. Author Tomie DePaola reads his moving picture book (Putnam, 1973). Sadness and love are heard in the different voices as he narrates the story that is based on his childhood. The instrumental background music fits the changing mood of the story. Youngsters can listen to the story with or without page-turn signals. A quality recording that introduces the concept of death to young children.-Teresa Wittmann, Westgate Elementary School, Edmonds, WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Full-color pictures, newly created by the author 15 years after the book's original publication, add to this spirited true story based on dePaola's childhood memories of his grandmothers. Fans of his Newbery Honor book 26 Fairmount Avenue will recognize these winning matriarchs. Ages 3-7. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
This edition of dePaola's story about his special friendship with his great-grandmother and grandmother and the death of his great-grandmother is illustrated with new, full-color paintings. The illustrations are vintage dePaola, and the warm palette conveys the boy's love for his elderly relatives. From HORN BOOK Fall 1998, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Ages 3^-7. Originally published in 1973, this autobiographical picture book was one of the first to introduce very young children to the concept of death. Given its graceful treatment of a difficult subject, it has been a parental staple ever since, and a new generations of readers will be glad to discover this timeless tale in a lovely new edition. In an appended note, dePaola says he approached this project "as a completely new book." Thus, the format is larger than formerly, the pictures have been re-done in full color, and even the text has been slightly modified, though the story remains the same: every Sunday four-year-old Tommy's family goes to visit his grandparents. His grandmother is always busy downstairs, but his great-grandmother is always to be found in bed upstairs, because she is 94 years old. Tommy loves both of his nanas and the time he spends with them. He is desolate when his upstairs nana dies, but his mother comforts him by explaining that "she will come back in your memory whenever you think about her." Although dePaola's book is a nostalgic tribute to his own family, its theme--that not only people but our love for them survives in our memories--is universally true and important. --Michael Cart
