The first thing to catch my eye about “I Love You, Grandpa” was the title – how cute is that – and then I saw the illustrations. The characters are cats, and they are adorable.
Stanley’s grandfather had come for a nice visit, and he would be watching the children while their mother went to work. She told Rex, Flora, and Queenie to look after Stanley, and then she told Stanley to look after Grandpa.
The children were full of plans for Grandpa. They wanted to take him to the playground, and to play soccer. Stanley really wanted to go to the swings, but the older children were louder and overruled him. When Rex kicked the ball to Grandpa, Grandpa missed, and when Stanley tried to save it for him, he fell right down. That wasn’t very much fun.
Next Queenie decided to skip rope, and asked Grandpa to hold one end for her. Stanley said he’d hold the other, but Grandpa’s end just didn’t seem to want to work. And he couldn’t bounce very high on a bouncy ball, either, even when Stanley tried to show him how.
Poor Grandpa was tired, and he sat down to rest. Stanley climbed up on his lap and sang him the song his mother always sang. It was a sweet song, and he changed the words a little bit to tell how much he loved his grandpa. Soon Grandpa’s eyes closed. And so did Stanley’s, and Queenie’s, and Rex’s, and Flora’s. They all slept until Mom came home.
When they woke up, Grandpa said that Stanley had been looking after him very, very well indeed. And then he took Stanley to the swings and they swung and swung and swung together.
(This book was published in 2004 by Candlewick Press and was illustrated by Dana Kubick.)
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