When Granny came to stay by Alice Pung. Illus. by Soweol Han

When Granny Came To Stay is part of a new chapter book series for readers 5+ that is ‘explicitly about diversity, anti-racism and inclusion’. It aims to engage readers through softer and funny stories and shows the real lives and experiences of children living in Australia.

I REALLY loved this book! I don’t even know where to start……

This is a book about Ethan, a grade 2 who loves Destroyer Discs (like Beyblade’s-which you may know if you currently have young children!!). His Mum is returning to work, so his Granny comes over from China to help look after him while she settles in to work. The story simply tells of the building of their relationship in real life, rather than over facetime and how she shares her experiences with Ethan. It shows how Ethan finds certain parts of his granny annoying, the intricacies of school yard friendships, and accepting the differences between everyone.

I love the illustrations; they are such an amazing addition to this book. Sally Soweol Han really captures the families’ emotions and stories. Although they are black and white, I really felt the colourful family life Ethan has with his parents and his Grandparents.  

The text is a good size for younger readers, and I love the double line spacing. This ensures that early readers are not overwhelmed by the number of words on the page, but also gives the sense of a real ‘novel’ as they move on from being an emergent reader.

In addition to the great story, the last part of the book also has step by step instructions on how to make Granny’s spinning top that was in the text. It is simple to follow, with diagrams, enabling the 5+ readers to easily be able to construct the top.

What an awesome book! One that I will definitely be adding to my library collection (and all the other titles in the series that I can find!)

Themes: Diversity, Grandparents, Inclusion.

Lauren Fountain