How to Read to a Grandma or Grandpa

April 15, 2020
A pair of savvy grandchildren provides inspiration for family reading with their grandparents. Like all good reading advocates, the children have thought of everything: where and how to choose books, where and when to read, and how to savor the good or not-so-good parts by rereading, discussion, and even acting out dramatic or humorous scenes. Overall, this double pair of siblings and perceptively keen elders ably models a love of reading. Amusing and endearing cartoon drawings colorfully depict a variety of other reading bonuses, such as book-inspired garden-bug investigations, science experiments, and moonlit backyard snuggles. Of course many of today's grandparents are regularly involved in the care and nurturing of their grandkids, and many aspects of reading together are entertained, including silly ones like reading under the bed with a grandpa or a shared reading with long-distance grandparents via video chat. Making books part of everyday life is a steady message throughout. Within this quartet, the grandma has pale brown skin and the grandpa appears white, and one child's skin is slightly lighter than the other's. Wise and sometimes a bit wacky literary advice for the intergenerational family. (Picture book. 5-8)

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June 29, 2020
The latest book in the author-illustrator team’s How to... series instructs kids on reading with grandparents, offering suggestions on different scenarios, locations, and modes for reading aloud. Reagan includes forthright steps (“First, help them pick a book”) with droll bulleted proposals (“Where to find a good book:/ On the bookshelf/ In your bed/ Under your bed/ In the car”), questions to ask (“What are your favorite things to read about?”), and speech bubble options (“Dinosaurs?”). One notable spread features the two kids reading with their bespectacled grandmother in a moonlit backyard. The tone remains informative throughout, and warmly colored digital illustrations featuring noodle-limbed, pinpoint-eyed characters provide welcome contrast. Optimal for children who need a little extra prompting to connect with their grandparents (or vice versa). Ages 4–8.