Grandma's Hurrying Child - Hardcover

JANE YOLEN is the award-winning author of more than two hundred books for children and adults, including How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?, illustrated by Mark Teague, and Hoptoad, illustrated by Karen Lee Schmidt. She lives in Massachussetts.

KAY CHORAO has illustrated almost eighty well-loved children's books, including Whose House? by Barbara Seuling and her own The Baby's Lap Book. She lives with her family in New York City.

PreSchool-K—Maddy asks her grandmother for a story: "Tell me about the day I was born. Tell me how I was a hurrying child. And how you hurried across three states to meet me." This simple picture book tells that tale, relating how a young couple headed for the hospital after making a rushed phone call to Grandma, who then embarked on her own longer journey by train, knitting all the way. She arrived just in time to meet her new granddaughter. Details of Maddy's birth are presented side by side with highlights of Grandma's trip. The "meanwhile" narrative structure adds interest, as do certain visual details (especially the doll that is old and well-loved in the preschooler's arms, but fresh out of the box, curly hair intact, before that child is born). Some of the figures look a bit stiff, but Chorao's watercolors are pretty and accessible, and the poetic text capitalizes on children's interest in their own history. While not an essential purchase, this book will be useful in larger collections or where the prolific Yolen has a following.–Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL
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