YOU BE GRANDMA

Sometimes even adults need a little extra bedtime spoiling.

Today was a busy day for this very active grandmother. She taught yoga and Pilates, returned books, shopped, cleaned, and spent time with her grandchild: playing cards, supervising violin practice, singing karaoke, dancing…the list goes on and on! Grandma is yawning and starting to pout from fatigue. Her hip aches, and she hopes her grandchild can “be Grandma” by taking charge of their bedtime rituals: massaging Grandma’s neck, scratching her back, giving her a hug, preparing a bedtime snack, making shadow puppets on the wall, reading “a story—not once, but twice,” and wishing on the stars for sweet dreams. Though Grandma asks the little one to assume the adult role, illustrations show Grandma guiding the activities and the child initiating age-appropriate actions like turning off the lights. When the child is too tired to be the grandmother, Grandma stretches and puts the little one to bed with a kiss and a promise to “love you wherever you are.” Rhyming couplets create a soothing bedtime story accompanied by detailed illustrations in soft colors that exude calm as they capture the pair’s joyful relationship. Grandma wears large blue glasses and has short curly gray hair, and the child has dark brown hair cut in a chin-length bob. Both are brown-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A reassuring nighttime read featuring a playful role reversal.