Granny and Me

Elizabeth St Jacques is the author of Echoes All Strung Out and
Survivors: The Great Depression, 1929-1939.

Gale Henry of Trinidad, now an elementary-school teacher in Canada, sets
this story in her homeland, where little Simone and her grandmother are
best friends and constant companions. Told from Simone’s point of
view, the tale shows her and Granny as they tend their garden, eat
fruit, wash clothes, swim in the river, shop at the market, and visit
friends. When Granny becomes ill and dies, Simone is understandably
“mad” and sad. However, Simone’s mother shows how looking at
photographs and recalling special moments can both be healing and help
keep the memory of the girl’s beloved grandmother alive.

While the author uses repetition, short sentences, and a new scene at
every turn of the page to hold a young reader’s interest, there are
problems. The pace slows to a crawl when exotic fruits and vegetables
such as patchoi, eddoes, guavas, and sapodillas are mentioned but not
even vaguely described. (It would have helped had these items at least
been labeled in the illustrations.) Simone washes her doll’s clothes,
yet the doll is never seen or mentioned again. (Wouldn’t a child cling
to her doll for comfort when a loved one dies?)

Unfortunately, the characters are one-dimensional and sadly lacking in
genuine human warmth and sincerity—even in the illustrations. Simone
smiles only once, while Granny never smiles; and they never hug or utter
a word of love for each other. Even the youngest reader or listener
might find Granny and Me too spiritless to care what happens to either.
Not a first-choice purchase.