cover image Chicken Soup for the Soul Celebrates Grandmothers

Chicken Soup for the Soul Celebrates Grandmothers

Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Lori Brystan. Health Communications, $9.95 (96pp) ISBN 978-0-7573-0249-7

The Chicken Soup army marches on, waving its flags for grandmothers this time in a petite gift book. ""A mother becomes a true grandmother the day she stops noticing the terrible things her children do because she is so enchanted with the wonderful things her grandchildren do,"" quips Lois Wyse, and that's about as edgy as this collection of b&w photos, quotations and anecdotes gets. Harriet May Savitz (Growing Up At 62) contributes two tales, one in which she and her granddaughter muse on the parallels between grandmothers and antiques, and another in which she counsels her five-year-old grandson that for her, ""Life meant discovery. Discovery meant life."" Other feel-good pieces include the story of two cash-strapped women, one old, one young, who send each other money whenever they have the tiniest surplus; a vignette about baking Christmas cookies and making ""Happy memories. Loving memories""; and a rumination on the pleasure of wrinkles earned through laughter. This isn't for the anti-sentimental set, that's for sure, but it's sweet as Grandma's cinnamon buns.