Review by Booklist Review
Sweet, softly textured illustrations warmly depict Black grandmas playing, singing, and snuggling with their darling grandchildren on every page of this cozy board book. Weatherford's lilting, honeyed lines describe a grandma's singular affection: "We pat-a-cake / and peek-a-boo. / I dance as she sings / 'loop-de-loo.'" Corrin's artwork shows a wide variety of grandmas--some have wrinkles and gray hair, others scamper after crawling babies on the floor--and the facial expressions clearly communicate the tender feelings between the tots and their nanas. This is likely to be especially poignant for kiddos who have been separated from their elders by the pandemic.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Grandmas of myriad abilities, body types, and brown skin tones laugh, play (pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo), and more throughout this cheerful board book tribute. Weatherford's breezy, activity-oriented rhymes ("She understands/ my baby talk// and takes me on/ my morning walk") are accompanied by Corrin's bright, crayon- and stipple-textured illustrations, which feature grandmothers and babies interacting. Snuggles and smiles abound, as in one scene of a grandma who uses a wheelchair grinning as the child on her lap coos. In another spread, a toddler assists in the kitchen ("She bakes me cake// and tater pie// 'cause I'm the apple/ of her eye."). A joy-filled celebration of grandparents for babies and toddlers. Ages up to 3. (Mar.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-K--This tender board book celebrates the love between grandmothers and their grandchildren in African American families. Gentle rhyming couplets follow babies, toddlers, and slightly older children engaged in a host of delightful daily activities such as dancing, reading, and baking. Corrin portrays the grandmothers as a joyful and energetic group with bodies of all shapes and sizes--some fat, some thin, some tall, some short. One uses a wheelchair. The layering of the bright yellows, pinks, purples, greens, and browns creates a pleasingly loose, screen-printed aesthetic. Some of the adult-child duos are situated in clearly defined environments, while others revel against abstracted planes of color. Weatherford's everyday vignettes evince a profound and enduring familial bond. To underscore this connection, Corrin depicts many of the grandmothers with the same poses and facial expressions as the children in their care. VERDICT This delightful book with engaging rhymes and bright illustrations will work well for one-on-one read-alouds with young children.--Jonah Dragan
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