Grandpa’s Stories: A Book of Remembering

A young girl from India shares memories of scared time spent with her grandfather while he was alive. She shares special walks in the springtime they took together holding hands, even though Grandpa said she had grown too old for such endearments. She mentions cars they raced up so high they reached the depths of outer space and the times she documented her greatest dreams with the multi-colored pencil Grandpa gifted her. The young child also shares memories of listening to Grandpa share stories from his own childhood, of tigers, elephants, and Indian sweets. Soon after his passing, the child discovers items representing their time together among the things left behind, keepsakes that will enable her memories of Grandpa to live on forever!

Joseph Coelho does a remarkable job of sharing a young child’s love for her grandpa and the depth to which their relationship touched her life. The profound impact this gentle, thoughtful man is evident in Coelho’s words and the colorful, imaginative illustrations. Young children who have special relationships with their grandparents are likely to find this story relatable and heartwarming. Cultural tidbits are sprinkled throughout the text, as well as the illustrations, adding a unique and interesting facet to the story. Elementary school teachers may even find it a helpful resource for augmenting a multicultural lesson on India. Though it is a picture book, Grandpa’s Stories: A Book of Remembering is appropriate for children as young as five and as old as nine or ten.