Grandpa Green by Lane Smith -- Book Trailer

Granpa Green 
by Lane Smith

ISBN 1596436077
Caldecott Honor (2012) New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books (2011)

Theme: Family, love, aging, memories

Grandpa Green wasn't always a gardener. He was a baby who became a boy and experienced life on a farm with chickens, pigs and eggs. He got the chicken pox in fourth grade, although his grandson will tell you it wasn't from the chickens and he loved to read. The story is sweet and the pictures make it come alive. I could imagine myself walking through Grandpa's garden and looking at the shrubs and seeing his memories come to life in the garden. The garden is Grandpa Green's journal he uses it as a comfort to help him remember the important parts of his life and share them with his grandson. We see the grandson progressing through the garden and watchful of his grandfather's ailing health and memory and in the last page we see him carrying on the tradition in the garden.

This book could be used as a springboard for creating memory books with students. Why do we write important memories down? Are there various ways to share our memories? 
Create a reflection about people in your life who are aging? What is it like to see them? How do things change? Have students tell a story about their grandparent(s) that they have shared? Research what your grandparents did when they were younger.

Writing Prompts: Write down five questions you would like to ask your grandparent or elderly friend about his/ her life growing up. Write a narrative about your favorite memory of you and a grandparent from your childhood

Similar books: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Great sharing book for Grandparents day. Invite Grandparents in to share a morning with the students. Create activities to play and have the students share their written work.