Author & Illustrator : Lisa Aisato N'jie Solberg
Translator: Espen Stranger Johannessen
Publisher: Pratham Books
Ages: 6 years and above
Great Grandmas are rare to come by and who would not cherish
the feisty and loving kind?
This Pratham Books story revolves around a charming and
perceptive young girl, the product of an inter-racial marriage. She has two great-grandmothers from
two very different worlds. While she has never seen the paternal one who lives in
Gambia, she is fortunate to meet the Norwegian great-grandmother
occasionally.
The grand old ladies build and enjoy a rapport with their
little great grand child. While one sings and narrates old tales, the other manages
to connect over the phone, despite a language barrier.
As with aged people, the child sees them turn
frail and fragile and finally pass away.
The warm tale ends with a lovely
vision of the two ladies meeting and chatting in the next world sharing
stories of their youth, bound by the love of the ocean and of course the little girl.
The book works at two levels:
1. It celebrates mutli cultural differences and ageless relationships.
2. Old age and death are difficult to explain to little kids, but this story can come in useful in such discussions and that too, in a non-tragic way.
Kids
over six years should find they can read the book confidently, but the
poetry in the relationships shared, can be enjoyed across ages.
The art is full of soul and makes you feel you have met the characters.
Do take a look at some more of the illustrator's work- here.
3 comments:
Looks lovely!
Thanks, Art! I loved the parts that were honest without sugar-coating - two very different ladies who've been through a lot in life - where the Norwegian grandmother watches boxing on TV and smokes can seem quite unreal for some kids; the halting yet excited phone conversation with the Gambian grandma where the dad translates a bit is so familiar for some kids in multi-cultural families...
What a great story! Gorgeously illustrated. So much of energy in the art. Thanks, Art for bringing this to us!
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