School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1-With charming illustrations and a singsong rhyming text, this flipbook appeals on many levels. “Bubbe,” “savta,” “nana” – these are all names Jewish children call their grandmothers. Each richly colored spread depicts a doting grandma engaged in an activity that best displays her own special loving ways. Chimpanzee nana bakes a challah and then goes outside to play catch; bow-wowing bubbe rides a moped while delivering treats for Purim; and grandmother bunny makes seder “each year for 23 cousins all equally dear.” Zebra “zaydes,” snail “sabas,” and porcupine “papas” conduct themselves similarly on the flipside. Utilizing a dense palette of purples, reds, blues, and greens, the whimsical illustrations are full of expressive characters exuding lots of love. Especially appealing is the center spread, where a human grandma and granddaughter float lazily along a river reflecting a grandpa and grandson (thus the flip), while the riverbank is lined with cloudlike reflections of the animals seen earlier in the text. Although this book is geared toward a Jewish audience, the warm and loving portrayal of the special relationship between grandparents and their beloved grandchildren shines through on every page, making this a lovely choice for Grandparents Day in any community.

Teri Markson, Stephen S. Wise Temple Elementary School, Los Angeles
Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information

A Grandma Like Yours / A Grandpa Like Yours, October 3, 2006
By Jewish Book World Magazine (New York, NY)

This review is from: A Grandma Like Yours / A Grandpa Like Yours (Paperback) Cute animals, sweet thoughts and loving ways inform the pre-school crowd about the various names for grandparents in English, Hebrew and Yiddish. Jewish holidays and customs form the setting for all but one example of tenderness. The targeted readers, ages 3 to 6, will find the situations amusing and comforting. The book is a back-to-back or flip volume, half for grandpa and half for grandma. Animal grandmas appear as grannies, nanas, savtas, bubbes and grandmothers. In order: elephants remember grandchildren's names (trite, but readers are 3!), chimpanzees bake challah, kangaroos dance horahs at Hanukkah, dogs deliver Purim baskets, giraffes do mitzvot with soup and bunnies do seders for crowds. Grandfathers (sabas, zaydes, papas, grandpas) are equally hands-on. Llamas blow shofars, quails and snails bake kugels, zebras parade for Israel Independence Day, porcupines help make matzah, and groundhogs dig holes for Tu Bishvat trees.

Of course grandparents, whatever their names, do these things; animals do not. But animals run the gamut of adorable to adorable and always sell in children's books – so voila! The main point is that these loving animal/adults interact with cute animal/children no matter what you choose to call them. This sets a tone for our children, a tone of love that carries into myriad Jewish settings and names. The text rhymes without too much strain. The active illustrations in muted jewel tones explain the words beyond a shred of doubt. All in all, this book sweetly indicates that when warm feelings arise from kind actions all names are perfect (the glossary explains the words in each language) and grandparents rule.

Preschool. Reviewed by Ellen G. Cole