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There’s something so special about a grandma’s and grandpa’s relationship with their grandchild. These books highlight those relationships and remind us how important our grandparents are. But along with the happy memories our grandparents give us, they also teach us about aging, loneliness, forgetting, and death. Some of these books teach those lessons in a gentle way, and all of them remind us to cherish our memories and relationships with our grandparents. Here’s my list of the best books about grandparents:
Psst! If you want to win one of these cute books, just share a memory of one of your grandparents right here!
The Lines on Nana’s Face by Simone Ciraolo: A little girl notices that all the lines on her Nana’s face sometimes make her look a bit sad, a little surprised, and slightly worried, all at the same time. She asks Nana if she minds them, and she tells her that they hold all of her memories. She then proceeds to tell her about what memory (happy or sad), each line represents, including the smile line that represents the first time she saw her granddaughter. Such a sweet book with pretty illustrations.
Grandpa’s Stories by Paul Coelho: You may know this Portuguese author from The Alchemist. Grandpa’s Stories follows a grandpa and his granddaughter through four seasons, describing the memories they make together. After winter passes, the grandpa is gone, but he’s left a special handmade journal for his granddaughter. She takes the book and writes down all her happy memories with her grandpa inside it. it totally reminds me of Loom Journals!
The Old Woman Who Named Things by Cynthia Rylant: This book is by Cynthia Rylant, so that’s all you really need to know. She’s by far one of my favorite children’s book authors. The Old Woman Who Named Things is about an old woman who has outlived all of her friends. To keep from being lonely, she names things that she knows will outlive her, like her bed, Roxanne, and her house, Franklin. But when she meets a little puppy, she hesitates to name him because he probably won’t outlive her. I especially love this one because of my love for naming (I name creative products for companies at Eat My Words). You will love this book and the watercolor illustrations!
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney: Based on the real life legacy of the Lupine Lady, the woman who scattered lupine seeds everywhere she went, Miss Rumphius is about living your dreams and finding a way to make the world a more beautiful place.
Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs by Tomie dePaola: The story of a little boy who lives with his grandma (downstairs) and his great-grandma (upstairs). He loves visiting them, listening to stories from Nana Upstairs, and watching Nana Downstairs take care of Nana Upstairs. When Nana Upstairs dies, he sees a special sign that shows she is not gone forever.
The Remember Balloons by Jessie Oliveros: Warning: This book is a tearjerker. It’s a gentle portrayal of what happens when a grandpa starts losing his memory. At first, grandpa has lots of different-colored balloons that represent his memories with his grandson, but he slowly starts losing them, and the grandson can’t catch them before they fly away. But then, he starts gathering his own balloons, and it’s up to him to remember and pass along his grandpa’s memories. Such a beautiful book!
You also might like this post with 100 of my all-time favorite picture books.
And if you want some ideas about documenting your grandparent’s lives and advice, go check out my friend Katie at The Listening Ear Project!
