cover image Grandpas Are the Greatest

Grandpas Are the Greatest

Ben Faulks, illus. by Nia Tudor. Bloomsbury, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-5476-1230-7

Sprightly rhymes sing grandfathers’ praises in this enthusiastic, vocation-centric tribute about the “great long line of grandpas/ that leads all the way to you.” Featuring individual grandads who bake, build, explore, invent, and more gathered at a picnic, Faulks finds ways to spotlight each one’s interests as connected to their relationship with a beloved grandchild. In one instance, a youth holds a top hat exploding with playing cards while an adult waves a wand (“My grandpa’s a magician/ who tours across the land...// and I’m his young apprentice,/ who lends a helping hand”). In another, a grandad and child hang-glide through blue skies, and a final youth’s grandfather “stays at home with me.” Captured by Tudor with crayon-like markings, lively scenes depict child/grandparent pairs of varied abilities and skin tones, building to a message that “you can always count on grandpas.” Ages 3–6. (May)