Sophie

Sophie is a girl who loved her Grandfather very much. I love the way the artist illustrates their bond so lovingly and gives the grandfather huge strong hands that he held her with as an infant, and held her hand at his death. It was very sad, it did not have a lot of words, the illustrations spoke to me the most. This book was about the progression of life, and how we lose the ones we love, but life continues on and we must always hold on the our dear ones' memories.

Sophie is a little girl who loves her grandfather. As she grows older and bigger, her grandfather grows older and smaller. One day, Sophie's grandfather dies, and she is very sad, until a new baby comes and brings her joy again. This is a story about love, death, and the cycles of life. It's a sad book with a hopeful ending. It would be a great story to use for discussing topics of grief and death with very young children in the classroom. The bold, warm illustrations add to the book's themes of love and family. I would recommend this book to pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade teachers.

This is a sweet story about a girl who is born into a family filled with love. Sophie and her grandfather have a tender and loving relationship. When she is born she is small and tiny, and he is big and strong. As she grows, the reader gets to experience the inverse of this relationship. Sophie gets larger, and grandfather gets smaller. When he is old, he passes away and happiness ceases for a while. It is not until Sophie has her own child that the emptiness is filled. The paintings that fill the pages depict Sophie growing in typical lifestyle scenes. However, the illustrations are not realistic because the hands are rather large. I believe that these hands symbolize the love and care that surrounds Sophie. This is a great book that show more depicts the cycle of life. It is enriched with the theme of family by showing the deep bond and loving relationship between a grandfather and his grandchild. An easy read that leaves the reader feeling all fuzzy inside. show less

As Sophie grows older and bigger, Sophie's beloved Grandpa grows older and smaller until he is no longer there. Touching, with simple text, but quite deep subtext. Robinson's vivid illustrations, based on Afro-American culture, take up the whole page. There is also an earlier edition, illustrated by Craig Smith who based his illustrations on Australian-European culture, and the illustrations lend a different focus to the text.

This is a realistic story for young children about the cycles of human life. It shows the love between a girl and her grandfather and tells how she is sad when he passes away but becomes happy when her own child comes into the world.

Parent's Choice Silver Honors
Sophie tells the story of the circle of life, starting from before she was born. It portrays the very special bond between Sophie and her grandfather as she grows up and he grows old. It deals very tenderly with the death of the grandfather and the grief that Sophie experiences. The book has a happy ending describing Sophie's joy when has her own child. The illustrations are quite fascinating; they are odd and beautiful at the same time.

This story walks through the stages of life and growing up. The story starts with grandpa holding little, baby Sophie and ends with Sophie holding little grandpa and telling him goodbye. The last page, Sophie is holding her own newborn. This theme shares the cycle of life and that people come and people go. I know a lot of students would be able to relate to a grandpa dying, but this book encourages new beginnings and hopefully would encourage the students.