Grandma forgets by Paul Russell
Ill. by Nicky Johnston. EK, 2017. ISBN 9781925335477
Picture book. 'My grandmother forgets who I am. Every time we meet,
it likes meeting someone new...
Even though Grandma can't remember us, we have so many memories of
her.'
There are the sausages as big as elephant's legs that she served for
Sunday lunch; going to the beach; snuggled in together with a
hot-water bottle and a blanket watching the nighttime storms split
the sky... The little girl and her dad have memories galore that
they share with her in her new home with the painted garden and
people who remember for her.
Young children encountering older relatives who are succumbing to
the challenges of the ageing process are becoming more common as
generations live longer than ever, and so stories that help them
deal with what can be a confronting situation are always welcome.
This is a gentle comforting story about the enduring love between
the generations, although if Grandma is 80 as her birthday cake
shows there seems to be a skipped generation in the chain. My own
grandchildren would appear to be about the age of the children in
the story and they faced this situation with their
great-grandmothers, not their grandmas. We are only in our 60s!
Nevertheless, this is an uplifting story that shows how children
embrace the changing circumstances, accepting the changes and the
challenges and working with them, rather than taking them as a
personal rejection. There are adults who could learn from this
unconditional love that children display and how they adapt so they
almost become the adult themselves. And while there are old memories
to recall, there are always new ones to make.
The soft palette and lines chosen by the illustrator portray the
beautiful memories perfectly and the love between them all just
oozes from the page setting up the perfect opportunity to let the
children tell and draw their own stories of their own special
moments with their grandparents, perhaps cementing them even more
firmly.
A family story that provides lots of comfort.
Barbara Braxton