I recently connected with a distant cousin who is an author and journalist. She writes a weekly column in an English magazine on the joys and challenges of being a "modern gran". She asked me if I would consent to be featured as a grandparent of the week. Sure! So that set me to thinking about grandparents:
Some children might be lucky enough to have storybook grandparents. These grandparents are indulgent, understanding, and have almost unlimited patience. The grandmothers are plump, have white hair, and like to bake cookies. The grandfathers usually aren't quite so plump, have gray hair, and like to tell stories. There is nothing in the whole, wide world that these grandparents love more than their grandchildren. The reality is that most grandparents are not storybook grandparents.
I have some books here on grandparenting and some picture books which are mostly about those storybook grandparents. But if you look through the library, you'll find disapproving grandparents, grumpy grandparents, eccentric old women, old men who take their teeth out, grandparents who don't know they're supposed to be old (and who may not be old at all). Individuals, all of them.
When children look at older people, they should be able to see them as unique individuals, but there is one thing that all older people share and that is a past. They are a link to an earlier age - even if it is the Age of Aquarius. Grandparents can make the past come alive for children. There are many books that can help a child explore the past with a grandparent who lived that past.
Memories also surface when a loved one dies - remember when Grandma made this quilt, remember the jokes Grandpa used to tell. Books can help children deal with death in many ways. One way is by helping to keep the memories alive. Grandad's Prayers of the Earth is that kind of a book.
Grandparents: a new look at the supporting generation /Falk, Ursula A. 306.874 FAL
The long distance grandmother : how to stay close to distant grandchildren / Wassermann, Selma. 306.874 RR WAS
My grandfather's blessings : stories of strength, refuge, and belonging / Remen, Rachel Naomi. 296.72 REM
Sea Prayer / Hosseini, Khaled, F HOS
Walking across Egypt /DVD F WAL
Granny Torrelli makes soup / Creech, Sharon. J F CRE
The heaven shop /Ellis, Deborah J F ELL
Where the streets had a name / Abdel-Fattah, Randa. J F ABD
The islander : a novel /: Rylant, Cynthia. J F RYL
All the places to love / MacLachlan, Patricia. E MAC
The hello, goodbye window /Raschka, Chris. E JUS
Last stop on Market Street / de la Peña, Matt. E DEL
Love as strong as ginger / Look, Lenore. E LOO
Mailing May / Tunnell, Michael O. E TUN
My dadima wears a sari / Sheth, Kashmira. E SHE
Very little Red Riding Hood / Heapy, Teresa, E HEA
When Jessie came across the sea / Hest, Amy. E HES
Grandad's prayers of the earth / Wood, Douglas, E WOO
So far from the sea / Bunting, Eve, E BUN
Vera's baby sister / Rosenberry, Vera. E ROS
Grandfather's journey / Say, Allen. E SAY