A good children’s book is one that appeals to children AND adults.
Our youngest son loved the book Are You My Mother by P.D. Eastman. I read it over and over and over to him.
I grew to detest that book because I read it to him so much.
Recently, I gave it to him. I told him that was inheritance. Good riddance (to the book — not my son).
I recently came across a delightful, delightful book for children ages 4-8 — Silly Frilly Grandma Tillie by Laurie A. Jacobs. When Grandma Tillie babysits Sophie and Chloe, she takes her knitting, disappears into a closet, and is replaced by a whole cadre of silly and outrageously fun people.
With a grand entrance, Tillie Vanilly (with a bouffant pink hair) recites the alphabet backwards, hangs a spoon on her nose, juggles and tells jokes. Then, she leads Sophie and Chloe all around the house and into the kitchen while doing the conga.
Let’s pause here to see what the conga dance is like . . . (I would like one of these outfits. To wear to work, maybe?) The video lasts 4 minutes. You don’t have to watch it all to get the idea of how to dance the conga.
Chef Silly Tillie visits next. She wants to feed the girls worm chili with glue gravy. They decline. (I don’t see shy!)
At bath time, Madam Frilly Tillie makes the girls gorgeous by giving Sophie a bubble beard and Chloe a tower of bubbles on her head.
Regular Grandma Tillie returns and tucks the girls into bed and as Sophie drifts off to sleep she believes she hears Grandma Tillie dancing down the hall.
This is a great book. I love the illustrations. They are very appealing. I love the plot — it’s fresh and fun. I would be willing to read this book over and over to my grandchildren. It would even spark a let’s-dance-the-conga activity with the grandkiddos. This book is definitely a keeper.
7 thoughts on “Delightful Book for Grandchildren”
My grandma was the coolest! she was the only 80 year old I’ve ever known that could do the splits. No joke! We used to dance around the living room with her doing the can-can and chugging around in the choo choo train. She also never got her drivers license so anytime we stayed with grandma we walked EVERYWHERE and we ALWAYS got lost lol! We hated it back then, but it sure makes for great stories and memories now. I sure do miss my Grandma!
The splits? Holy cow! What a grandma. (I couldn’t do them as a teenager and can’t do them as a grandma . . . )
My granddaughter likes to be our “waitress” and walks around the room, taking our “order”. After we select a steeak, she will inform us that it’s breakfast, and we need to order an egg. Then she uses her pretend food, fills our orders, and serves us! She’s been doing this since she was 2, and shows no signs of stopping!
I have lots of fun memories with both of my grandmas. But I think that one of the most recent memories that I love about my dear little old grandma is how she loves to “rock out” and play Rock Band until the wee hours of the morning with her family!
I have a very imaginative 5 year old granddaughter. She likes to have a tea party where she invites me aka Mrs. Bacon ( she named me and tells me ahead of time what to say and do) over for tea. Mrs. Bacon speaks with a sort of British Scottish accent, is very proper and uses words like “dearie” and giggles with a high pitched voice. Mrs. Bacon is prone to silly uncontrollable outburst when she starts sipping her tea. It’s always good for a ‘laughing till the tears roll down your face’ good time! I hope to one day write these stories down and perhaps publish a book.
My grandchildren are just getting to the age where we can have tea parties. Yours sound so fun!
Thank you for that fabulous review! Please tell the winner of your giveaway that I’ll be happy to send him or her an autographed sticker of Grandma Tillie’s Ten Terrific Babysitting Tips to put on the inside of the book.