Nicola I. Campbell, an immensely talented children's author of Interior Salish and Métis ancestry, whose picture-book explorations of the trauma of the forced residential (boarding) school experience for Canada's First Nations people - Shi-shi-etko and Shinchi's Canoe - were so immensely poignant and powerful, turns to a happier subject in this, her third offering. I'm glad of that, because although I feel it's incredibly important to explore traumatic realities in children's books - children live in the world, after all, and traumatic things happen to them, and to the people around them - and think Campbell did an excellent job detailing a terrible injustice visited upon the indigenous peoples of this continent (the USA too, has a shameful record in this regard), it's also important to depict the good things about contemporary native life - the warmth of family, the happiness of summer days spent outdoors - and Grandpa's Girls does just that!

Following a group of cousins as they spend the day at their grandfather's place - exploring the root cellar, swinging on ropes in the big red barn, petting Grandpa's Appaloosa - the story emphasizes the bonds of love and laughter that tie this extended family together. The artwork, done by Kim LaFave - the same artist who worked with Campbell on her two previous books - is fun and carefree, in a sweet cartoon-like style. Especially appealing as a story about contemporary First Nations people that doesn't revolve around an "issue" of some kind - this is something that is often in short supply - Grandpa's Girls also has broader relevance, as a general story of family, and love between the generations. ( )