BEEP BEEP BUBBIE

A Jewish girl and her brother spend Shabbat with their grandmother, who uses a motorized scooter.

Kate is thrilled that Bubbie is taking her and her little brother, Nate, to British Columbia’s Granville Island Public Market to shop for Rosh Hashanah—especially since Bubbie has a surprise! But when Bubbie’s surprise turns out to be her new scooter, Kate is disappointed. She misses “the Bubbie she used to have. That Bubbie danced and took them to climate marches.” But as they navigate the crowded market, the scooter with its tooting horn proves handy, enabling Bubbie to carry heavy groceries and comfort a fussy Nate. Bubbie can even fly a kite in the park, where a girl using a manual wheelchair pronounces her “so cool!” Realizing that Bubbie is “still Bubbie, even on the scooter,” Kate shows her grandmother a book about suffragist Frances Willard and names the scooter Gladys after Willard’s bicycle (and author Klein’s own scooter). The trio board a festively decorated Gladys with a resounding “BEEP BEEP, BUBBIE!”; the last page finds them attending a climate march. The text is occasionally stilted, and the introduction to Willard, though informative, abruptly shifts readers’ focus. However, Eudes-Pascal’s colorful drawings and attention to background details brightly convey the bustling market and Bubbie’s cheery disposition. Kate and her family present White; background characters are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.8-by-19.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 52.8% of actual size.)

An earnest if slightly unfocused reassurance that wheels won’t slow a cool grandma down.