Grandma

Deborah Dowson is a children’s librarian in Pickering, Ontario.

The Talk-About Books from Annick Press use a sturdy and brilliant
cardboard format with color photographs as a first book for infants and
toddlers. The latest additions to this series present grandchildren of
different ages and races together with their grandparents in various
natural settings. The photographs feature grandparents engaged in
traditional activities—grandmother gardening and grandfather
reading—but also show the less-expected situations of grandpa on his
motorcycle and cooking in the kitchen, and of grandma making toys. The
grandpas do seem to be much more active, however, as they are shown
working in a store, tobogganing, and swimming, whereas the grandmas are
mostly shown sitting.

The text is a simple narrative that describes actions in ways as such
“We go for walks and visit interesting places.” The books finish
with the question “What do you like to do with your
grandma/grandpa?” to encourage a response from the child.

At the infant and toddler stage, kids would probably be more stimulated
to word conversation by looking at photographs of themselves with their
own grandparents. The pictures of family relationships shared by people
from diverse cultural backgrounds are good to see, and I would recommend
these books particularly to libraries and day-care centres.