Every summer, Miriam spends a week at her Babajoon and Mamanjoon’s house. It’s her favorite part of summer because every day with her grandparents is an adventure. But when coins fall out of Babajoon’s pocket as he’s getting ice cream, Miriam finds one coin that doesn’t look like the rest a gold one unlike Miriam has ever seen before. Suddenly, she starts to notice certain things about her Babajoon. He can talk to parrots. He speaks with codewords. He trades crystal treasures with his friends. Could her Babajoon be a pirate?
grandfather and grandchild
Love Makes A Garden Grow
A young girl observes the bugs and blooms and the rich smell of the soil of her grandfather’s garden. Her grandfather hums as he waters his treasured plants. And when he gives the girl a flower of her own, caring for it teaches her to feel her grandfather’s love. Even as time passes and her grandfather’s garden grows smaller and the girl grows up, she never forgets what she learned or loses her closeness with her nurturing grandfather.
Sing To The Moon
For one little Ugandan boy, no wish is too big. First he dreams of reaching the stars and then of riding a supernova straight to Mars. But on a rainy day at his grandfather’s house, he is brought down to earth with a bump. Do adventures only happen in galaxies far away or can he find magic a little closer to home? A touching story of a grandfather’s love for his grandson and the quiet pleasures of a rainy day.
Earthwaves
When Akela makes his first trading voyage with his wise grandfather, he learns that it takes courage, knowledge, and wisdom to cross the Pacific Ocean in a sailing canoe without compass or chart. Includes historical note.
Ojiichan’s Gift
This gentle picture book story will warm children’s hearts as it explores a deep intergenerational bond and the passing of knowledge from grandparent to grandchild over time. The lyrical text by Chieri Uegaki and luminous watercolor illustrations by Genevieve Simms beautifully capture the emotional arc of the story, from Mayumi’s contentment through her anger and disappointment to, finally, her acceptance. The story focuses on an important connection to nature, particularly as a place for quiet reflection. It contains character education lessons on caring, responsibility, perseverance and initiative. It’s also a wonderful way to introduce social studies conversations about family, aging and multiculturalism. Mayumi lives in North America with her Japanese mother and Dutch father, and visits her grandfather in Japan. Some Japanese words are included.
The Matatu
Kioko had been watching the matatus come and go for as long as he could remember. But today, for his fifth birthday, he climbs aboard one with his grandfather. As the matatu pulls away from the market, the village dogs chase after them. When Kioko asks his grandfather why the dogs always bark and chase after matatus, his grandfather tells him an entertaining tale about a dog, a goat and a sheep. Set in East Africa, The Matatu is a colorful story filled with many unexpected turns and twists along the way.
Grandpa’s Girls
A young girl delights in a visit to her grandpa’s farm. She and her cousins run through the fields, explore the root cellar where the smoked salmon and jars of fruit are stored, swing on a rope out the barn loft window, visit the appaloosa in the corral and tease the neighbor’s pig. The visit is also an opportunity for this child to ask Grandpa what her grandmother, Yahyah, was like, and explore the “secret room,” with its old wooden box of ribbons, medals and photos of Grandpa in uniform.
Rain
Sam wants to go out, but it’s pouring rain, so Granddad says they need to stay inside until the rain stops. Sam drinks hot chocolate and reads his books and dreams of adventures while Granddad does some paperwork. When Granddad needs to mail his letter, it’s time to go out despite the rain and floods and Sam and Granddad have a magical adventure. The follow up to the acclaimed Snow, this is the second title in a four-book series based on the weather from creator Sam Usher.
Snow
Every child loves a snow day—no school and snowball fights galore! But Sam has to wait for Granddad, even though all the other kids have already gone to the park, and all the dogs and all the zoo animals!
The Turtle of Oman
When Aref, a third-grader who lives in Muscat, Oman, refuses to pack his suitcase and prepare to move to Michigan, his mother asks for help from his grandfather, his Siddi, who takes Aref around the country, storing up memories he can carry with him to a new home.
Join the discussion of The Turtle of Oman as well as other books centered around relocation on our My Take/Your Take page.