Last week I was doing a little picture book research, and I ran across a forgotten favorite. We used to read it when I taught first and second grades, and oh how the children loved it!
Our Granny written by Margaret Wild and illustrated by Julie Vivas (1993)
Our Granny is a sweet and very funny book about the many different kinds of grandmothers we have and how each one is loved by her grandchildren for their unique traits. The grannies are compared to the narrator’s granny on separate pages. The first lines immediately lets the reader know that not all grannies are the same. ‘Some grannies live in… apartments, big old houses, old people’s homes, little rooms in the city, trailers, farmhouses, cottages by the ocean, nursing homes, or nowhere at all. Our granny lives with us in our house.’ (I added the commas because it is written in free verse with each fragment on a separate line. It’s much more beautiful in print.) The many different grannies have fat knees, crinkly eyes, big soft laps… our granny as a wobbly bottom. Some grannies wear silky dresses, big bras, sensible shoes…our granny wears a funny bathing suit. Some grannies baby-sit, go to college, write books, play in a band… our granny marches in demonstrations. The last line, of course, is ‘We love our granny.’
The illustrations are beautiful, funny, and heartwarming. Children can really see how the grannies (and people in general) can be loved for their differences.
After reading this book, my classes always had the opportunity to write about their own grandmothers and draw a picture of them. This work was displayed and then added to their writing portfolios to share with family members at our end of the year Author’s Tea. Regardless of what other masterpieces their children wrote throughout the year, this one always brought at least one person in the room to tears and laughter. Do yourself a favor, and read it with someone you love!
Juliana Lee 