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Sunday, November 3, 2024

My Grammie's House, written by Lana Button and illustrated by Skye Ali. tundra, Penguin Random House. 2024. $24.99 ages 4 and up

 


"There's a kitchen floor for skating, 
a shaggy rug for shuffling
and a TV room with its 
very own sunbeam. 

Grammie's exercise show in on channel 23. 
Grab two soup cans and drag a 
kitchen chair right to 
that sunny spot.

I think the little girl who narrates this warm-hearted story has a future in real estate, if she so chooses. The tour she offers a couple looking at the house her Grammie once lived in is filled with the many pleasures she enjoyed whenever she visited. 

She rides up on her bicycle the moment they arrive, and surprises them with a warm welcome. Starting with their entry through a springy front door, she is quick to take them to the kitchen where she shares all the memories it elicits of the happy times she and her Grammie spent together. As they listen, they learn a great deal about Grammie herself. 

Grammie drank cranberry juice, favored Bran Flakes as her cereal of choice, and fed a neighborhood cat named Jethro. The front yard offers a climbing tree for thinking, and the back yard has the best swings ever. There's a dining room for taking a cookie break, and a hole in the yard where water gathers when it rains. It's a perfect place for catching pollywogs! 

"There you have it!
The best house ever.

Personal, memory-laden, and full of enthusiasm, this is a book that will be read again and again. It offers up opportunities for stopping to talk about what makes a house a home. The images created by Skye Ali complement the text perfectly. I love how she shows Grammie's possessions in pink outline through every part of the chatty tour.  

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