cover image Emma's Question

Emma's Question

Catherine Urdahl, , illus. by Janine Dawson. . Charlesbridge, $16.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-58089-146-2

What happens when a grandparent falls ill? In her debut, Urdahl does a clear if slightly flat-footed job of setting out five-year-old Emma's ambivalence when Grandma lands in the hospital. She's peeved that Grandma can't keep her promise to read to her kindergarten class; she's lonely without her special companion; and she's just plain frightened. She wants to ask something, but, in a leitmotif, finds that she can't: “The question clawed at Emma's throat. She clamped her lips together.” When readers finally meet Grandma, they see why Emma loves her so much. “That's just my dancing partner,” she jokes when Emma shies away from the IV stand. More importantly, she responds candidly when Emma blurts her burning question: “Are you going to die?” “Sometime,” Grandma replies. “But not now.” Dawson (the Lily Quench series) keeps the images upbeat with pastel shades and lots of smiles. Still, it's a scary subject, and Urdahl does not entirely defang it: Grandma is still in the hospital at the end. Ages 5–8. (Feb.)