Grandparents Day

Grandparents Day

Any day can be a day to celebrate grandparents and Grandparents Day is a great day to get started.  We've put together some great books to share with young scholars who may want to talk about their own grandparents and perhaps make a card, write a letter, or just make a phone call to tell them how much they mean to them.


Grandparents Day is a national holiday or observance, celebrated each year on the first Sunday after Labor Day, although it is not classified as a federal holiday.

Celebrate	2025 - September 7
2020 - September 13	2026 - September 13
2021 - September 12	2027 - September 12
2022 - September 11	2028 - September 10
2023 - September 10	2029 - September  9
2024 - September 8	2030 - September  8

Alma Flor Ada shares a story of a young grandchild who loves her visits with her European-American grandmother and grandfather on Saturdays; and her visits with her Mexican-American Abuelito y Abueltia on Los Domingos (Sunday).  A quiet story of favorite family days.

Based on an Yiddish folk story, Jim Aylesworth tells of a grandfather who is able to recycle his handsome blue coat to become a smart jacket, and as each item becomes worn and shabby, the jacket becomes a vest, then a tie, and finally the worn tie is made into a toy for grandfather's great-grandson's kittens, and when the kitten is finished, a mouse makes use of the remains for a cozy nest for her babies.  Grandfathers often have many talents - and making something from nothing is a talent.

Those familiar with "the House that Jack Built" will recognize the early cumulative refrains of this story of a family dinner.  From the sunflowers on the table to the diverse selection of dishes: squash, and potatoes, and tasty tamales, samosas, and homemade bread and pies (and faces) each family member contributes his/her own part of the meal to be shared around the table that Grandad built.  The final pages make this a great story to share around thanksgiving time - "For these hands we hold, for tasty good food, for family and friends ...for the grace that is given and love that is shared, we give thanks ...around this table that Grandad built."

Thursdays are special days.  Papa has a normal routine each day -- but Thursdays well that is the day he has a special routine.  And his granddaughter shares the quiet story of a grandfather and his granddaughter.
Joowon Oh's spare text and his watercolor and cut-paper illustrations are sure to delight even the youngest of readers and inspire stories of special days with grandparents - from readers of all ages.

The author, Mina Javaherbin, writes what seems like a personal story of a believed grandmother that was a constant presence during her childhood in Iran.  Where every grandma was - there was Mina.  Mina's friend and neighbor, Annette, had a grandmother too.  Their grandmother's were best friends too.  The grandmother's knit together, and while one went to the mosque the other went to church but each loved and prayed for the other.  Both were kind and good. A story that must be shared and shared again.  A lovely story of a grandchild's love and admiration for a grandparent, and a story that instills, subtly the idea that diversity in religion does not preclude shared fun, kindness, and friendship. 

At the end of this story readers may realize that Grandpa spends his days gardening because he is grieving for the "Granny who is dead." But Henry does not understand why his grandpa does not hear him.  "Give him time" says Henry's mother.  And Henry does "six and a half minutes."  Eventually Henry engages Grandpa with his challenge to name his top three - sandwiches, then jellyfish, and onto other favorites.  It is  those other favorites that readers will not only understand the love that Grandpa has for Henry, but also for Granny, and the love Granny had for Henry.  A beautiful tribute to a memory of love past and love that is still held dear.  And it just might be the next best book to share when someone loses someone they love dearly.  What are your top threes... might just be the way to remember that someone.


If you are interested in using the books on this list with other ideas for reading and sharing access this free resource at http://bit.ly/booknotes-grandparentsday

Cite this blog post:
McElmeel, Sharron. (2020, August 10). Grandparents Day.  McBookwords (BLOG).  http://bit.ly/grandparentsday-books