Riki Levinson

I really liked this book for several reasons. First off, I loved the illustrations and think they would be very enjoyable for young children to look at. As an adult, I felt nostalgic reading this which is a feeling I loved. Personally, I don't think most children would fully grasp the 'lesson' this books teach, but I still think it would be a fun read for them. However, reading as an adult, I can see the lesson is the importance of family, and how family comes above all us. You can see this show more when the Aunts and Uncles are complaining about losing money because the grandkids are eating all the food, and the Grandma responds with "Who better to feed than our grandchildren?". This emphasized how the grandma and grandpa valued their relationships with their family over financial well-being. Again, this is probably not something a child would pick up on, but I think it is a feel-good book that would make them excited to see their cousins and play with them while reminding the adults how special family is. show less

This beautifully written story moved me and pulled at my heart. A Polish family immigrates to the United States, leaving their two young sons behind with their aunt and uncle. The family waits for the others to be able to join them in the United States. They receive a letter that they will be arriving soon and the family is overjoyed as they begin to count down the days until they arrive. As the young brothers are reunited with their family, the love and excitement they all share makes the show more wait worth it. Immigration is not something that I have dealt with personally, nor have I ever been separated from loved one so it is hard for me to imagine the pain and heartbreak that may come with immigration. This story made me feel the families pain and anxiousness are they waited to be reunited. show less

I had mixed feelings about this story. There was not a significant plot that created suspense. The main conflict was whether or not Grandpa should sell his hotel. This was resolved in just two pages, when the family decided they all wanted to live together for future summers. The rest of the book described the large family and what they did at the hotel, but there was no real plot to keep the reader engaged. However, I did like the Grandma and Grandpa's characters because they are warm and show more friendly, which are great qualities for a children's book. The language in the book is clear and descriptive so young children can easily understand it. There are a few cultural words that many children would not understand. For example, the word "Kinder" means "children" in German. This would be a great read aloud book for a classroom because it introduces words from another language, which promotes diversity. The illustrations would make this book interesting for children since there are a lot of colors and details that correspond with what is happening in the book. Overall, I like this book because even though it is not perfect, it about family togetherness, which is a good concept to promote to young children. show less

In my opinion this is a good book for young children to learn about big families. It allows students a picture of how different families operate. The moral of this story is that no amount of wealth can compensate for the love of a family. The grandparents in this story remind us that physical items in our life dwindle away but family is forever. The more children in their life, the more rich they feel as grandparents. I thought that the writing had descriptive detail on how the grandchildren show more spent their days together and the fun they had on their land. The illustration creatively captures the children's happiness with its exciting colors. I think this book is great for younger elementary students who haven't learned about families that are bigger then their own. We do not get the chance to hear the name of the main character but we do know that is from a little girls perspective. She sees her family growing and becoming increasingly beautiful. I liked that the perspective was from a child as they see the world differently from adults. show less