There is so much to like about A Plan for Pops by Heather Smith and Brook Kerrigan, published by Orca Book Publishers. It’s a lovely little intergenerational story about a grandchild and their Grandad and Pops.

Lou spends Saturdays with Grandad and Pops, learning from them and enjoying their company. Most Saturdays are the same until Pops has an accident. With the help of Grandad Lou comes up with a plan for Pops. Lou sketches the plan, enlists the help of Grandad and the neighbours, and finally reveals the plan to Pops.

This beautiful picture book has so many incredible elements to it. First off Grandad and Pops are a same sex couple with different interests and so much knowledge to impart on Lou. Grandad is a little bit more serious and Pops is a little bit more silly. You will notice throughout reading that anytime Lou is mentioned the author never uses a pronoun. It’s such a wonderful little element of the story as it allows all children to identify with Lou and thanks to the illustrator, Lou is depicted just as a child without bias. Grandad and Lou spend time together learning about new things and creating interesting machines. After reading this story, you may want to investigate Rube Goldberg and the Rube Goldberg machine and maybe play a game of Mouse Trap or two. It is through ingenuity, empathy and spunk Lou dreams up the plan for Pops. Throughout the story, the author refers to the 3 Ps: patience, persistence, and perseverance. Lou sticks to the plan, even when the first attempts fail, Lou continues to work to perfect her lovely plan.

I loved this little story from page one but really was not sure how it would play with The Bear and The Bee. Perhaps because they have a lovely relationship with their grandparents as well as some recent health troubles befalling the grandparents, A Plan for Pops really struck a cord with them and if only one story could be read, A Plan for Pops was the choice.

Brook Kerrigan creates some lovely illustrations, full of life and tenderness. She uses the perfect colours to depict the emotions in the story and uses some unique patterns and lovely flowing lines to create Lou’s Saturday’s with Grandad and Pops. ( )

This is such a caring, sweet book about the relationship between Lou and his two grandfathers. Every Saturday, they have breakfast, go to the library, and spend the afternoon together. Pops and Grandad are very different, and I love the way the author shows Lou interacting with these two very different grandpas. One Saturday, Pops has a fall and is confined to a wheelchair. He is depressed and does not want to do anything. Lou comes up a plan to get him back into their regular routine. I loved Lou's imagination as well as his relationship with his grandparents. Lou tries different things to cheer up Pops and finally with the help of Grandad, they succeed. This persistence is wonderful to see and shows how important this relationship is. Grandad and Pops were a same-sex couple which was portrayed simply as Lou's grandfathers and there was no other mention about it. I like that this was just a normal relationship. The illustrations were cute, yet the colours were a bit pastel. I would recommend this book to any child looking for a nice story about family spending time together, especially with their grandparents. The publisher, Orca Books, generously provided me with a copy of this book to read. The rating, opinions and ideas are my own. ( )

Beware the tears, as this book could sweetly make them fall. Granddad and Pops spend every Saturday with Lou. They have a routine. First breakfast, then the library, and some playtime. One Day, Pops takes a tumble, and the news is not good. He will have to use a wheelchair the rest of his life. This makes him sad, and Lou doesn’t want pops to be sad, so he comes up with a plan. It’s so sweet and nice, it will get your heart doing a pitter patter. Granddad and Pops could be spouses, brothers, friends, or they could be father and son. The book never says because it’s not important to the story. I bring it up in the review because I read it as a couple based on the illustrations, and we need more books like this. Books about various types of relationships, and books about changes when someone gets older, that isn’t just about explaining death. It's very well done, and I loved every minute. ( )