When You Visit Grandma and Grandpa
By: Anne Bowen
Pictures by: Tomek Bogacki
I absolutely love, love, love the way this book was written!! This little girl is telling her new little brother what it is like when they go to visit their grandma and grandpa. She talks about how their mom and dad pack them up in the car in the middle of the night to start their drive to Grandma and Grandpa's house. She talks about what you do in the spring at their house, then back to what you do during the car ride. Then she talks about what you do during the summer at their house, and once again, back to an activity they can do to pass the long car ride. She then describes the leaves and the pumpkins of the fall, and then more things to do in the car. Lastly, she talks about winter at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Then from the car she sees Grandma and Grandpas house and her heart beats faster, and she is so excited to be there. The last thing she tells her brother about visiting their grandparents is, "And you will know, I tell my new baby brother, that ANYTIME is the BEST TIME to visit our Grandma and Grandpa."
This book was enjoyable even at my age. I used to love going to visit my grandparents when I was little, and still do. When we didn't live close to my Grandma and Grandpa, my parents would pack us up in the car in the early morning so we could start our long trek to their house. I remember there were lots of special activities for each season as well. This book is great for any age person because most people have very fond memories of growing up with their grandparents.
This book would be a great starter for many activities in a classroom. You could have your students write about a special time when they went and visited someone close to them. Or, since this book talks a lot about seasons, you could have your students draw a picture about something they do during a particular season and then describe it.
While I was reading your description of the book I couldn’t help but think about all of the wonderful memories I have with my family while visiting my grandparents. Like you mentioned, I think this book would be great to use to get kids involved and talking by sharing their personal stories. This might allow the kids that are a little more shy and don’t really talk to want to talk. Also since this book mentions the seasons of the year, it would be a great book to start of the lesson on the 4 seasons of the year.
ReplyDeleteIn the lower primary grades there is always a unit on family and memories. This would be a wonderful book for the introduction of this kind of unit. Also, season like we were discussing in class having several different books about the same subject for literacy circles in lower grade levels. The way that the book is structured allows for higher order thinking questions for lower grades. Such as, "Who is talking?", "Who is the speaker talking to?" ect.
ReplyDeleteThis book has so many teachable aspects. I really enjoyed it.
This book sounds really great! I loved your summary of the book and the story line sounds very interesting. It reminded me of going to my grandparents house in the summer. We would also pack up and leave really early in the morning to drive there! I like that there are many things you can do with children using this book. I think using a lit circle would be a great idea to get kids talking and sharing opinions about the book and personal experiences! I enjoyed your idea of using it in conjunction with the seasons!
ReplyDeleteI think this is a good book to be able to show that different people can tell the story than just the narrator. The fact that this little girl is telling this story to her brother really gives the kids something to grasp onto in the story besides just what is happening.
ReplyDeleteI loved this story. Although all of my grandparents lived in the same city and so trips to grandma and grandpas weren't as exciting as in the book, I could still relate to some things, and I think that it is just a fun book for kids.