When you visit Grandma and Grandpa

PreS-Gr. 3. In a story that's part car-trip memories and part reminiscence of past visits, a little girl gives her baby brother an excited account of what to expect on a visit to their grandparents and a crash course on surviving the long trip to get there ("take lots of books, three games, and all your crayons"). The really fun bits are the girl's comic accounts of driving her parents to distraction by asking "Are we there yet?" over and over. The illustrations are what bring this somewhat prosaic tale leaping to life. Bogacki, who illustrated Emily Jenkin's Five Creatures 0 (2001), breaks the traditional double-page-spread mold by filling the pages with panels of varying sizes--ovals and slashes and curving cutaways--that will fully engage children while perfectly illustrating a narrative that shuttles between dreams and reality. --Connie Fletcher Copyright 2004 Booklist

Whatever the season, a girl tells her toddler brother, a visit to Grandma and Grandpa means, "You will have the best time ever!" Bowen's (I Loved You Before You Were Born) direct, heartfelt prose and Bogacki's (My First Garden) cozy compositions ensure this is no empty promise. Grandma and Grandpa are impressively spry: When the spring rains keep everyone inside, Grandpa does magic tricks ("He makes a penny disappear inside a blue hankie, and pulls yellow daisies from an old black hat"), and when the sky clears, Grandma loves to "splash-dance" through puddles." The book's structure is equally playful. Before the girl describes the fun of each season, she regales her brother with a different aspect of the journey to her grandparents' house (the pre-dawn wake-up, the way her pulse quickens when their house is in sight), elevating the car ride into a quest-like adventure. Bogacki further shakes things up by breaking most of his spreads into triptychs depicting different time frames. As the young narrator describes the way snow on the old house's porch looks "like Grandma's buttercream frosting," he depicts the girl creating a blizzard of torn paper for her enthralled brother in their living room, taking a snowy walk with Grandma and molding a snowball from the flakes on her grandparents' porch railing. A touching testimony to the deliciousness of anticipation and intergenerational love. Ages 3-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

PreS-Gr 2-A girl tells her new baby brother how to prepare for the long car ride and what to expect when they arrive at their grandparents' house. Her rendition includes something about every season, concluding that "ANYTIME is the BEST TIME" to visit. The telling is succinct and the words flow rhythmically. Together with the softly colored illustrations full of curving lines, the book introduces readers to a comfortable, loving experience. Each spread pictures up to three events, in a series that expands on the text. Lines between pictures are not defined, also leading to a soft, soothing feeling. Pair this title with Sheila Hamanaka's Grandparents Song (HarperCollins, 2003) for a more diverse grandparent experience; Cynthia Rylant's The Relatives Came (Atheneum, 1985) for a broader spectrum of relatives; Mariesa Oxford's Going to Grandma's (Raintree, 1992; o.p.), in which a child anticipates visiting her grandparents' farm; and Judith Caseley's Grandpa's Garden Lunch (Greenwillow, 1990), in which a girl helps tend her grandparents' garden and then eats lunch made from its produce.-Kathleen Simonetta, Indian Trails Public Library District, Wheeling, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A young girl explains to her baby brother all of the good things that happen while visiting Grandma and Grandpa, even passing along tips for the very long car ride (bring books, games, and ""all your crayons""). The soft illustrations show the girl on previous visits enjoying every season with her grandparents. The quiet, gently amusing story will resonate with both adults and children. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

A little girl preps her baby brother for his first visit to their grandparents, sharing travel tips for the long car ride as well as favorite memories of prior visits. Books, games, crayons, and singing help pass hours in the back seat and at journey's end Grandma and Grandpa wait with the promise of the best time ever. In spring Grandpa performs magic tricks and in winter he builds big snow forts. In summer Grandma plays hide-and-seek and in fall she carves scary jack-o'-lanterns. Soft, gentle illustrations progress from dawn car-loading in the city to dusk arrival in the country, alternating vignettes of the journey with snapshots of Grandma and Grandpa at play. Effectively evokes the anticipation and joy of a childhood visit to grandparents. (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.