Grandparents Galore!

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Throughout lockdown

And the last few months and weeks

We have found ourselves reading lots of books

About grandparents

And intergenerational friendships

Covid has caused a lot of anxiety and stress for many of us

Especially those of us with older relatives

We have had enforced times apart

And we have missed the kisses and cuddles

Missed the closeness extended families ordinarily enjoy

Many of the books we have been reading

Celebrate the kindness, generosity and wisdom of grandparents

They tell of the beautiful bonds built between grandparents and children

These are books that tug at your heartstrings

That make you want to tell your family immediately

Just how much you love them and miss them every day

Here are some of our favourite reads

Featuring grandparents galore!

The Keeper of Wild Words

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As July begins and lockdown begins to ease I am realising how much I have loved our isolation and our time to reconnect with the wild. While we have missed friends and family we have also loved our daily walks and our nature studies. We have heard cuckoos, seen owls and buzzards up close, listened to noisy nests, searched the farm fields for poppies. We have raised tadpoles for frogs, caterpillars to butterflies and we have our very own stick insects. The wild has wrapped around us, we have indulged in it and now I hope it will stay in our hearts and our family rhythm forever. This beautiful book, The Keeper of Wild Words, has been one of our favourites. The story of the love between a little girl and her grandmother. The grandmother is sad as many of her favourite words are disappearing from the English language. She wants to pass them on to a special wild word keeper and she chooses her granddaughter Brook, who was named after the wild. Together they explore and experience the wild savouring the simple words and saving the things they stand for. The illustrations are beautiful and show the connection between grandma and child and between gentle humans and nature. Words disappear if we don’t share them, speak them, read them. The list of words in this book are familiar to my little wildlings but the book is American so there are some things we cannot see in the wild here in the UK. All the same we have taken the words to our heart and we will not let them be lost and forgotten. My children love the page about mint. The granny and child pick a leaf and rub it, smell it and then taste it. They tasted the wild! If you are looking for a book to inspire your family to fall in love with nature, to experience nature with all your senses, this is it. We sent a copy to our Granny during lockdown and the children were delighted that she loved it too. At the back of the book there is a special envelope for you to collect your own wild words. We have three Edie words in ours that we never want to forget. Wizards, piggies and hedgestands. These were Edie’s words in early lockdown for buzzards, pigeons and stiles. We are a little sad that she says the words properly now x

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Bloom

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We have fallen in love with the book Bloom by @anneboothauthor and @robynwilsonowen We love the story of kindness and being gentle, the power of kind words and treating others as you would wish to be treated. We love the bond between children and nature and doing things to make others happy. We love the idea of intergenerational friendships. This is a book full of awe and wonder and magic words. Using some resources from @tiny_owl_publishing and inspired by ideas shared on Twitter we read the book then wrote BLOOM acrostic poems inspired by the story, we wrote letters to make an older relative smile and we thought about the things that make us bloom and wilt, the things that make us happy and sad. Such a lovely morning and I am so proud of the work Esther and William have done. The whole experience has made me bloom!! #bloom #kindness #kindnessmatters #bekind #buildothersup #childrensbooks #childrensbookillustration #childrensbookstagram #picturebooks #picturebooksofinstagram #bookstagram #kidsbookstagram #kidsbooks #kidsbookswelove #bookish #homeeducation #homeed #raisingreaders

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Tiny Perfect Things

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Today our walk was filled with tiny, perfect things. Butterflies, ladybirds, new flowers, bugs and caterpillars, beautiful dragonflies, spiders webs, soaring birds. Tiny, Perfect Things is a beautiful book of a little girl and her grandfather going for a walk in their local area and noticing and appreciating the little things that they see. This is a perfect book for remembering these last months of lockdown when so many of us have stayed local and found footpaths we have never walked before though they lead from our own front door. I have seen more of the people who live in our village in the past 12 weeks than the many years we have lived here. We have slowed down and we have made the little things the big things, the ordinary the extraordinary and this beautiful book celebrates exactly that. Noting that there is magic and beauty all around us, we just need to look for it and appreciate it and share it with the ones we love x

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When Grandma Gives You A Lemon Tree

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Today Edie and I read this book over and over again before sharing it with everyone else at tea. It is a lovely story about the love between a little girl and her grandma. The little girl has a list of gifts she would like for her birthday but instead of any of those her grandma gives her a lemon tree. After politely hiding her disappointment the little girl keeps and nurtures the tree. Seasons come and seasons go and the tree grows lemons. The little girl and her granny have great fun making lemon juice, this was Edie’s favourite part as we acted out slicing and juicing the lemons. The grandma then helps her granddaughter make lemonade and they sell it to their friends in their neighbourhood. The little girl earns enough money to go shopping for something that she really really wants. What do you think she buys? This is a wonderful book, one of the ones that gives you a warm fuzzy feeling in side. One that makes you grin from ear to ear. A story of the love between grandma and grandchild, of learning from our elders, a reminder to have patience, that things are not always what they seem, a story that tells you to make the best of what you have, that hard work pays off and a heartwarming reminder that the simple things are often extraordinary and everything is better shared with friends and with family. We are better together! The perfect picture book for #30dayswild, for #lockdown and at a time when many of us are wanting to fill our shelves with a wider range of diverse books. This would be a wonderful addition to any booshelf x @sterlingbooks @sterlingkids #whengrandmagivesyoualemontree #diversebooks #diversechildrensbooks #kidsbooks #kidsbookstagram #childrensbooks #childrensbookstagram #picturebooks #picturebook #childrenspicturebooks #picturebooksofinstagram #raisingreaders #littlebookworm #littlebookworms #booklove #kidsbookreviews #kidsbookswelove #bookstagram #booksaremagic #30dayswild2020 #booksforkids #booksforchildren

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When Grandpa Gives You A Toolbox

A companion book to Grandma and the Lemon Tree. This one follows the same structure as the first and celebrates hard work, sharing, kindness and community.

The little boy in the story was hoping for a house for his dolls but instead is given a toolbox. His Grandpa helps him to see the potential in the gift and learn the skilsl he needs to make things for himself and for others. Such a lovely book that would make a wonderful gift for the special Grandpa in your life.

My Grandma and Me

This is a book bursting with love. This story shares the adoration a little girl has for her Grandma.
Mina’s Grandmother lives with her in Iran. They do everything together. They have a strong bond which is fun and playful, filled with love and kindness. The story celebrates their relationship and shows some of the Muslim traditions that they share. My children learning a little about Ramadan. The illustrations in this book are beautiful, filled with colours and pretty patterns. This is a love story. Granddaughter and Grandmother. Mina wants nothing more than to be just like her Grandma, kind, generous and full of love. I remember adoring my own Nan in just the same way.

If All The World Were

This book caught me out in the library as I read it out loud to the children. It is so beautiful but it is so so sad. This is a poetic picture book about the love between a little girl and her grandad, and how through memories, love can live on. This book is an emotional read but it is also uplifting and hopeful and would be a wonderful support to any child who has lost a grandparent. The book is beautifully written and the illustrations burst with life and colour even at the saddest of times. This is brilliant book for starting a conversation about illness and loss and about learning to live without someone that you miss very very much.

Grandpa’s Garden

I have so many wonderful memories of my Grandad’s garden as a child. It was always Nanny’s house and Grandad’s garden. He grew all sorts of wonderful things in his greenhouse and veg patch. I used to love his runner beans and digging for the treasure he used to hide for us. This is a book that celebrates the bond between Grandad and Grandson as the elder hands down gardening skills and wisdom to the younger. A wonderful book about grandads and gardening.

Joy

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Going out for a walk today? Why not go on a joy hunt? In the book Joy Fern goes in search of some joy to bring back to her Nanna who is feeling down. Yesterday Bea and I turned our walk into a Joy hunt. We saw lots of beautiful flowers, trees full of blossom, butterflies in lots of different colours including a peacock butterfly who landed right in front of us. We saw newborn lambs and fields and fields of glorious yellow oilseed rape. We lived the sunlight shining through the trees in the woods making the carpet of bluebells sparkle. We blew dandelion clocks and made wishes on the fairies as they flew away. There is joy everywhere if you take some time to see it. We wanted go share some of the joy we found with you x #goingonajoyhunt #joyhunt #joy #joyful #seekingjoy #findingjoy #makingtheordinaryextraordinary #bookishwalk #dailywalk #dailyexercise #bookstagram #childrensbooks #kidsbookswelove #kidsbookstagram #childrensbookstagram #dailyexercise #isolationinspiration @quartokids

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Birdsong

This beautiful book follows a young girl as she moves to her new home far away from the sea. The little girl feels lonely and out of place. She makes friends with an elderly neighbour, Agnes, and through a shared love of nature and art a wonderful, intergenerational friendship is formed. This is a wonderful tale of friendship and how nature and art can bring people together. We travel through the seasons as the relationship grows between the young girl and the elderly lady. The elderly Agnes grows frail through the winter and the young girl brings her joy before saying goodbye. A very emotional read with stunning illustrations for all ages.

There’s A Tiger In The Garden

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Have you read this? There’s A Tiger In The Garden. The perfect book to inspire children to get out in the garden and use their imaginations. Will they find a tiger in the garden? Or perhaps a grumpy polar bear. This story finds Nora out in her grandma’s garden disbelieving her granny’s story that there is a tiger in the garden. As she explores the garden with her toy giraffe she comes across giant dragonflies, hungry plants and a grumpy polar bear. But will Nora find the tiger? And what will happen if she does? We set up a tiger watering hole in the garden for some imaginative play of our own! @quartokids #thetigerinthegarden #bookishplay #bookbasedplay #bookinspiredplay #childrensbooks #childrensbookstagram #kidsbooks #kidsbookstagram #kidsbookswelove #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebook #picturebooksaremyjam #picturebooksofinstagram #childrensliterature #childrensfiction #tiger #tigers #imaginativeplay #raisingreaders #letthemplay #play #getoutsideandplay

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My Grandma is 100

This is a wonderful story about a Grandma celebrating her 100th birthday. The granddaughter is not sure what to buy for someone who is turning 100. What do 100 year old Grandma’s eat at parties? How can you fit 100 candles on a cake? What present should you buy for someone turning 100? Grandma Edna lives in a special home with lots of other people. She has her own room but no playroom so her present cannot be too big! The Granddaughter chooses the perfect gift and the 100th birthday celebrations are a great success! This is a joyous book. It is fun to read out loud and enjoy together as a family. It can lead to discussions about how we all get old, how the older generation have different tastes and needs, how some people may need extra care as they get older and may need to live in a special home or have a live in carer in their home. This is a book with lots of different levels but it is fun and filled with empathy, love and kindness. It definitely made us smile.

We have loved reading all these grandparent stories

Grandparents are treasures

I know that our children adore theirs

As I adored mine when they were here

I would have loved to have celebrated 100 with my Nan and Grandad

But it was not to be

I am glad that these books exist

Stories that celebrate the joy grandparents bring

The bonds they have

The hugely important roles they play in families of different shapes and sizes

Here are books that can be used for celebration

Also to help with understanding loss and grief

To remind us to care for our older relatives

To do what we can to support them and be with them

To celebrate them

Grandparents Galore!

One thought on “Grandparents Galore!

  1. Pingback: Poppy Goes Wild Blog Tour: Our Review and Q&A With Illustrator Becca Hall | Edspire

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