The most recent New York Times Children’s Best Seller list includes at number 3, “How to Babysit a Grandma, “ by Jean Reagan. This follows a previous best seller, “How to Babysit a Grandpa, also by Jean Reagan. We Boomer grandparents crave books about grandchildren and grandparents. This Grandma thinks the release of this book five weeks ago, before Mother’s Day, is what propelled it onto the New York Times Children’s Best Seller list.
On Amazon, you can get a preview and can read reviews, and this Grandma did.
The on line review for the Grandpa book says it all:
“Review” The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, May 2012: “The narrative is particularly effective in converting childish concern into caretaker reassurance (‘When your mom and dad leave, pat your grandpa’s hand and say, “Don’t worry. They always come back” ’)…While grandpas will obviously enjoy sharing this story with their little ones (and parents will enjoy purchasing it for a Father’s Day gift for said grandpa), there is enough playfulness here to broaden the appeal to a wider audience.”
The grandchild character in the Grandpa book is a boy and the grandchild character in the Grandma book is a girl. This may not be a big problem for little children, but some may comment, as do some of the reviewers in the ratings.
This Grandma thinks that characteristic of the books can be augmented. If the book is from a grandchild for either Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, additional pages can be inserted, with captions that suggest the grandchild and grandparent should find extra things special to themselves. Grandchildren can crayon a border or write the message.
There are other highly rated books to give as gifts to grandparents are shown at the bottom of the Amazon page.
Please do not wait for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day to give books about grandchildren and grandparents together as gifts. These can be a visit gift to a grandparent from the grandchild, or vice versa.
Remember, as a grandparent, you can create your own book on www.shutterfly.com. Just upload a group of pictures, and Shutterfly will create a book to which you can add captions.
With coupons from www.retailmenot.com, 50% off offers are common. These grandma made books are cherished by grandchildren with
Joy,
Mema
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