Marla Stewart Konrad,
Grand
Tundra Books, 2010.
Age: 4-8
Grand is one of a series of photograph illustrated picture books designed for very young children published by Tundra Books in conjunction with World Vision. Here, the focus is on grandparents, hence the title. But ‘grand’ also means ‘great’ or ‘wonderful’ too, and this special book focuses on why grandparents are indeed ‘grand.’ The book’s point of the view is that of a child; “Grandma and Grandpa love me” is the way it opens, and the reader is led through the book as a child experiencing life with his/her grandparent. The range and diversity of cultures present in the book make it a really rich multicultural extravaganza of images. This is a great book for a young child to cuddle up with his/her parent or grandparent to read.
The World Vision Early Readers Series of which this book is a part is the brain child of author Marla Stewart Konrad, who worked for several years for World Vision. Her work with the organization enabled her to draw on a store of images from the World Vision photo library. Although some of the pictures were taken by professional photographers, many were taken by World Vision team members. The archive is a treasure trove amply providing Konrad with scores of photos for the series. Grand provides some stunning and moving images of children and their grandparents that show, as Konrad intends, the joy, dignity and universality of human relationship.
For readers inclined to Grand and the other books in the series – I Like to Play; Mom and Me, and Getting There – , there is also a free curriculum available on-line that accompanies the books. It is worth checking out. As well, royalties from the series go to World Vision, an organization dedicated to the well being of children all over the world. Currently, they are actively at work in earthquake and tsunami stricken Japan.
Sally Ito
April 2011
A few days ago, in the wake of the earthquake disaster in Japan, I heard about a family acquaintance in Canada whose elderly grandmother in Yamagata had a very bad stroke. Yamagata is in northern Japan and some of the services to that area were disrupted, exacerbating the situation for anyone needing medical care. What did this family acquaintance do? Well, she and her mother packed up their bags immediately and booked a flight to Japan to be with their loved one even amidst all the furor and panic around the nuclear power plant situation in Fukushima. Hearing this story, I had an epiphany. Love does not flee, it goes to whom it must attend, at all cost and without fear.