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When you see a title like, Quiet Time with My Seeya (or at least me), I assume that you will get an outlined story. Meaning:
Step one: Grandparent is coming. Or child goes to grandparent.
Step two: Child is bored, and grandparent makes magic. Or the child knows grandparent makes magic.
Step three: They have lots of fun, maybe learning something new, but always a happy generational story.
There is nothing wrong with this story format. It is a good format and I like it. I like the family dynamic and I like the familiarity of it. However, Dinalie Dabarera takes a slightly different path by adding a modern twist. While child and grandparent are together, you do not see their journey getting there; and there is no magic, except for the magic of having the fun times they have together. They do such things as reading and cooking, showing the different clothing they wear and splashing in puddles. The grandchild and grandparent might not be speaking the same language, but that is okay. They figure out how to spend time together so both can enjoy.
This is a good issue to add to a child’s story. With immigration and schools with mixed languages, we can learn how we can talk, be friends and show love with our actions. And, though we have this situation, we realize that no matter what language we speak, unconditional love is how we can work through it. And we can see all the fun and crazy in the illustrations of Dabarera. They make happy, colorful, and bright images. The cover is probably my favorite illustrations because it shows a hint of what is to come, without giving everything away.
The author is from Australia, but she had her own family member who was like the grandfather of the story and did not speak the language of her granddaughter, yet the love she had for her and her family was never in doubt.