My Grandma and Me
Mina Javaherbin
illustrated by Lindsey Yankey
Candlewick Press, 2019
ISBN 978−1−4263−3304−0
If you were fortunate to have one or two or three loving grandmothers, this book will touch your heart. Grandmas can be the most loving people in our long lives, teaching us about life, passing along traditions, sharing stories, helping us become wholesome adults.
While the grandma in this book is Iranian, readers will find similarities to their own grandparents, with exquisite details about a specific culture.
Grandmas are often our faith teachers. Here prayers, attendance at mosque, and Ramadan are an integral and heartwarming part of the story.
The illustrations are stunning. Iranian motifs, rich fabrics, woven rugs, and embroidery are all woven into the storytelling, subtly giving depth to grandmother and granddaughter’s relationship.
The narrator, a young girl who is first depicted with a space poster above her bed, inspires later art of constellations and the moon that are breathtaking, in contrast with the soft colors of life at home.
Make sure you seek out this book. Highly recommended.