In these two books, we see granddaughters who are not that close to a grandfather. Or at least, not at first due to the generation and language gaps they face. In Grandpa Grumps and My Day with Gong Gong two young granddaughters have problems trying to connect with their grandfathers as both grandfather’s English is limited, and Daisy and May have limited Chinese. But both learn that no matter the gaps they are facing, what can overcome that is the language of family and love.
Both books are like the story Drawn Together by Minh Le (a grandfather and grandson situation), but for a slightly younger crowd. Plucky Daisy will do whatever she can to make her grandfather smile and some interesting situations occur in the process. And May is a spunky, honest character that is not having fun by the end of her day with Gong Gong. But no matter what culture they are from, grandfathers know how to make granddaughters happy. Katrina Moore’s Grandpa Grump has more energy to the tone and style, where My Day with Gong Gong by Sennah Yee has a softer, gentler tone.
Illustrations of both picture books are cute, sweet, colorful, soft, and bold all at once. Xindi Yan (Grandpa Grumps) and Elaine Chen (My Day With Gong Gong) make the illustrations as fun to read as the text. They capture their respective books atmosphere and add more charm to the mix. They were fun to view and both, while different, had some lovely comparisons. They were probably my favorite part of the books.
The great part of these books is yes, they are about two Asian children and grandfathers, but it relatable to all people and works for all ages.
