The Best Books for Grandparents
These books for grandparents are the perfect gift. They all deal with the beautiful experience of having grandchildren.
Spending time with grandparents is a determining factor in children’s upbringing. With their love, patience and wisdom, grandparents teach indispensable values and strengthen the self-esteem of their grandkids.
The best books for grandparents
There’s a popular belief that parents are responsible for raising their children, and grandparents are responsible for spoiling them. In fact, there is nothing more comforting than a hug from our grandfather or enjoying one of grandma’s homemade meals.
However, grandparents can do much more than spoil their grandchildren. Being a grandparent involves certain responsibilities as well.
Grandparents are part of the family nucleus and are fundamental for the physical, cognitive and emotional development of children. Their presence transmits stability and serenity and allows their grandchildren to grow in a balanced environment.
Within this familial space, children feel free to express themselves. Furthermore, the life experiences of grandparents are the perfect complement to their grandchildren’s formal education.
In this day and age, grandparents are younger than ever and, therefore, this experience is gaining strength. And for the same reason, literature directed towards grandparents is more and more diverse and involves much more than just recipes.
Below, we’ll take a look at books for grandparents of all ages, styles and personalities.
5 alternative books for grandparents
1. Grandpa Green, by Lane Smith
Lane Smith offers us this sensitive and somewhat enigmatic work that shows how communication can “triumph” over forgetfulness and old age. The main character is a grandfather who has had a fantastic, exciting life. However, now he must deal with his own memory loss.
As the story advances, the man spends long hours in his garden using a pair of old clippers to prune his plants. In doing so, he creates enigmatic shapes that end up being the connection between the present and the past.
The symbols also represent his way of sharing his memories and saving them from being forgotten.
2. Dear Grandma/Grandpa: From You To Me
These books for grandparents and grandchildren offer a unique experience. Their purpose is to strengthen family bonds and bring generations close together, in a journal-type format. The idea is for children to better get to know their grandparents through 50 questions that the books provide.
It’s hard for children to imagine that their grandparents were once young and experienced the same doubts, desires and uncertainties. These books allow children to reflect upon stereotypes related to “old” and “senior citizen” that tend to fall on grandparents .
They also offer youth the opportunity to travel to other time periods. While interviewing their grandparents, they can explore the differences and similarities between the past and the present.
At the same time, the books also give grandparents the opportunity to remember their youth and identify with their grandchildren. This exercise of empathy strengthens family bonds.
Through the 50 questions that you find in these books, grandparents pass on their life experiences. By sharing anecdotes with their beloved grandchildren, they have the opportunity to close the generation gap and enrich the lives of their descendants.
3. I Love My Grandma, by Giles Andreae
This is an album-type book that seems simple and without pretensions. However, it’s full of sensitivity and tender illustrations.
Giles Andreae shares his memories about childhood with his grandmother through a series of images and creative stories. I Love My Grandma is a sweet and gentle option for grandmothers and their grandchildren to learn and enjoy together.
“Literature directed towards grandparents is more and more diverse and involves much more than just recipes”
4. Grandpa’s Boat, by Michael Catchpool
This original book by Michael Catchpool includes a boat named The Periwinkle as one of its main characters. When its own grandpa passes away, The Periwinkle ends up abandoned and loses its usefulness and beauty.
Though the family is immersed in sadness over the loss of grandpa, his son decides to take care of The Periwinkle. He sets out not only to restore the boat, but also to relive his memories of grandpa and share them with his children.
5. Grandpa’s Great Escape, by David Walliams
This fun and action-packed story is ideal for grandparents and grandchildren to read together. The book tells of the adventures of Ben’s grandmother, and contains the tremendous secret behind this seemingly gentle old lady.
Despite her white hair and false teeth, Ben’s grandma is a jewel thief that is wanted world wide. This irreverent book by David Walliams surprises us with the ins and outs of the extraordinary relationship between Ben and his gangster grandma .
All of the books we’ve presented today are very different from one another. However, each will serve as a bridge to establish new and different connections between generations. Without a doubt, all of them are a gift to grandparents and grandchildren alike.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Lane Smith. (2011). El jardín del abuelo. Océano Travesía.
- Cuéntame tu vida. (2018). Querida abuela: Entre tú y yo. Cuéntame tu vida S.L.
- Giles Andreae. (2014). Te quiero, abuela.Grupo Anaya Publicaciones Generales.
- Michael Catchpool. (2008). El barco del abuelo. Editorial Juventud.
- David Walliams. (2013). La increíble historia de… la abuela gánster. Montena.