Sometimes It's Grandmas and Grandpas: Not Mommies and Daddies

"I remember so clearly the day my granddaughter and I were reading a picture book, and for the first time I realized how puzzling our life together might seem to her," writes Gayle Byrne in her afterword to this charming picture-book about a young girl being raised by her grandparents. It is certainly true that the world of children's picture-books is awash with images of loving parents and children - images that do not reflect the home-life and family experiences of the approximately six million American children being raised by grandparents today. Byrne - a former children's librarian, and active member of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren - set out to write a book that did reflect those experiences.

A young girl describes the loving show more routine of her day in Sometimes It's Grandmas and Grandpas, Not Mommies and Daddies, from the morning cuddles and snuggles with her Nonnie, that help her to get through the school-day, to the afternoons spent building a tree house with Poppy. Byrne's narrative sometimes feels as if it is trying a little too hard to speak with a child's voice - I could have done without the seemingly endless use of "cuz" for because - but it does capture the warmth and affection of the grandparent-grandchild bond. The precise reasons for the absence of the girl's parents - death, military service, abandonment - are not specified, making this a book with which many young readers will be able to identify. The accompanying watercolor illustrations by Mary Haverfield emphasize the warmth of this non-traditional family and their home. All in all, a very satisfying little book - one I would recommend to anyone looking for upbeat children's stories about grandparents raising grandchildren. show less

For an issue book, this is pretty good. The pictures are pleasant and warm and there are some quite lovely scenes. The text is a little blah, but most issue books are so clunky and in your face that this is relatively extremely good.

A little girl lists all the things she does with her grandparents, whom she lives with instead of her parents. The focus of the story is on the warmth and affection shown her by her grandparents and shows how normal her life is.

There's an author's note and further resources at the back of the book. I can't think of a single other current book on this subject and it's definitely a growing trend.

Verdict: Pretty good and fills a gap. We'll probably get it in June for our Tough Topics collection.

ISBN: show more 978-0789210289; Published October 2009 by Abbeville Kids; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library show less

Good book about just because you might live with your grandma and grandpa doesn't mean your not a family and not loved. A family is what you make. Very good book for acceptance and understanding.

Book about how sometimes it isn't mommies and daddies, sometimes the grandparents are the one to take care of the children. A lighthearted book about the things a child does with her grandparents that a normal child with a normal family would do with their parents. Showing children that it is okay for them to not live with their moms and dads.

Absent parents

This is a snapshot of a child being raised by her grandparents.

A child is being raised by her grandparents and she explains that is okay with her and they love her a whole lot.