Grandma Drove the Lobsterboat

May 15, 2012
When the weather gets rough, Grandma takes the helm. The clanging of the bell buoy indicates choppy water, but that doesn't deter Grandma from her planned adventure with Little Billy. It's Labor Day, so she has the day off. (Most every other day she's running her trash-hauling/snowplow business.) She and Billy are going to relax in the lobsterboat while her son Bill (who has a wee problem with seasickness) tends to the catch. A thick fog rolls in just as it's time to head back. But Bill is weak-kneed in the stern of the lobsterboat, and Billy can't raise uncles Buster or Burt by phone. There's only one thing to do: With Little Billy as her eyes, Grandma takes the helm. It's a heart-stopping ride, swerving past the buoy and veering away from the rocks that support the lighthouse. Thanks to Grandma and Little Billy, the Labor Day lobster bake is a great success, and she rewards him with the biggest lobster he's ever seen. Clark's text is ample, and, while giving empowerment to senior citizens, the tone is consistently tongue-in-cheek. Many of Huntington's seascapes benefit by filling two wide pages. Some readers will wonder at plot holes, including the fact that savvy Grandma relies on her seasick son in the first place. Spirited and often exciting, if a little ragged. (Picture book. 5-8)

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October 1, 2012

K-Gr 2-The gang from Grandma Drove the Garbage Truck (2006) and Grandma Drove the Snowplow (2010, both Down East), including the various cats and dogs, is back. While helping her sons get lobsters for the annual Labor Day bake, things don't go exactly as planned for Grandma and and her youngest son, Little Billy. They're out on the foggy, choppy water collecting lobsters when he becomes seasick. Grandma's other sons are unable to help as they are dealing with their own boating problems. No worries though: If Grandma can drive the garbage truck and the snowplow, why not the lobster boat? Her glasses are fogged up, so Little Billy acts as her eyes as she drives the boat at full throttle back to the dock. After a few near misses with a buoy, some rocks, and the dock itself, she arrives at the mainland with all her sons in tow plus the crustaceans. The Labor Day Lobster Bake is saved. Huntington's illustrations aptly depict the setting and characters and include plenty of entertaining details, though the live lobsters are a bit overly red and Grandma appears to have been dieting since she drove the snowplow. Good for individual sharing or for a Grandma-centric storytime.-Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH

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