Book: Great-Grandma’s Gifts by Marianne Jones

Genre: Children’s Literature

Great-Grandma’s Gifts is a story about a little girl named Arlene who loves to sew beautiful things.  She sews clothes for her doll, and then she grows up and sews clothes for her own babies, and later on, her grand babies and great-grandbabies.

It’s a really gentle story.  There are just enough discussion points–like the descriptions of the different fabrics–to encourage a little extra chatter, and it opens the gateway to discussing how everybody starts out “little”.

My Sophia is still of an age where, whether I explain it or not, she doesn’t seem to fully understand that I was a little girl once, and that everybody else starts out little too, but I think that is something that you just learn a little at a time.  It’s not something you really have to teach, one just learns it through life and normal interactions with people.

That said, I have a real and fervent love for genealogy, and so the idea of nurturing my children’s interest in their grandparents lives is a topic near and dear to my heart.  I truly hope that my littles truly appreciate the experiences of their grandparents and great grandparents.

It reminds me of the Little Golden books my mom read to me when I was little, both in the style of the story and in the illustrations.  The actual pictures are pretty subdued for a children’s picture book, but they fit into the idea of a child telling the story, and it has a bit of a retro vibe.  If you’re looking for a really flashy, exciting kids book, this is not it, but it is a special story about the interaction between generations.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars