Grandpa's Face

I like this book because it showcases the idea of unconditional love. This book is the story of Tamika and her grandpa. While her grandpa is practicing for a play, Tamika sees her grandpa make a face she's never seen before, a mean one. Tamika then decides to misbehave to try to get Grandpa to make the face again. Grandpa then explains that he loves her too much to make that face at her. This book can show kids the importance of love and what unconditional love means.

Universal appeal. An amateur actor is so convincing he frightens his granddaughter. But because she has patient parents and because he knows the value of a tender talk-walk, everything's all better right quick. Greenfield is always worth reading.

I liked the story "Grandpa's Face" for three reasons. First, the characters in the story are believable and well developed. It shows the strong bond between a granddaughter and grandfather that many students in a class may relate to. "Sometimes Tamika and Grandpa would go out together, just the two of them." Second, the illustrations enhance the story by giving readers a visualization of what Grandpa and Tamika enjoy doing together. Third, this story pushes readers to think about the power of facial expressions and how they can make a person feel. When Grandpa has a mean facial expression when practicing for a play, Tamika is worried that he will one day look at her this way. After talking with Grandpa she understands the difference show more between playing pretend. The big idea in this story is love, telling the people you care about how you feel when you're happy or sad. show less

Summary:
This book is about a young African American girl named Tamika who loves her grandfather very much. She especially loves his face and all the expressions he makes. No matter what expression her grandfather has, she always feels loved. One day, Tamika walked in on her grandpa rehearsing his lines for a play. She saw him make another face, a "mean" face, and she got scared and walked out. She did not like that face and she didn't know how to feel about her grandfather now. At the dinner table, Tamika began to misbehave. She accidentally tipped her cup of water over and it spilled on her grandfathers lap. He got up and asked her what was wrong with her and went to change his shirt. He then took her on a walk and asked her what was show more wrong. She told him about the face she saw him make and told him she didn't like it. He told her he was only acting and he could never make that face at her, no matter what. Tamika felt much better now.

Personal Reaction:
I love this book because my grandfather was my favorite. He was the opposite of Tamika's grandfather. He was always stern but very funny. I loved him and while most people were afraid of him, I never was. More children today are around their grandparents a lot. This book is good for the classroom because many children can relate to Tamika.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. In the classroom, children can learn about facial expressions and talk about which expressions they like most.
2. This book would be appropriate to read for Grandparents day. show less

A sweet story about a girl and her grandpa exploring what unconditional love is, how people emotions are reflected on their faces. We also see how Tamika's behavior is affected by her being upset. I think this story would be a great starting point to talk about emotions and how behavior is connected to them. Also, a great book to promote diversity in the classroom.

Tamika and her grandfather have a special relationship, but when Tamika sees Grandfather practicing a mean face for a play, she worries that someday he'll show that mean face to her. Captures the magic between grandchild and grandparent perfectly.

Tamika loves her grandpa. They do everything together; they are very close. Even when he is angry, Tamika knows that she is loved. However, when Tamika walks in on her grandpa practicing for a play, she sees him give an angry face that could never still hold love. She is terrified that she could make him this mad, and to see if he would ever give her this evil face, she purposely tries to make him angry. Tamika's grandpa sees her acting strange and talks to her. She confesses why she is being a bad girl, and he explains that no matter how mad he ever gets at her, he will still always love her.
I read this book to children as part of my service learning assignment, and they really liked it because they related it to their grandpa. It was show more funny because they showed me all of the mean faces their grandpa can make when he is very mad.
I could use this book as part of a lesson over Black History Month. We could share all of the different cultures and how they are all the same loving family to each other. We could talk about the importance of family and share personal examples between one another. show less