The best children's books about grandparents
3rd March 2020
Grandparents are special members of the family, taking their grandchildren on days out, give unending supplies of chocolate, hugs and lots of quality time together. Something that is commonplace is for grandparents to read to their grandchildren as it is an easy and great activity to do together.
There are some great books about grandparents that will fascinate your grandchildren and capture their imagination. So, whether you read to your grandchildren before bed or during the day, the below books are ones that you can add to the collection.
Click on the publication to jump down to the description of the book.
When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree
Written by Jamie L. B. Deenihan
This picture book is a clever story that discusses the virtues of hard work, celebrating the community and encouraging children to put down electric devices for a bit.
Margaret Kingsbury, a poet and novel writer, highly recommends ‘When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree’. In an article she wrote for Book Riot, she describes the book by saying: “What do you do when your grandmother gives you a lemon tree planted in an old coffee tin for your birthday instead of the million other things you wanted, like a robot? This little girl definitely won’t throw it away (okay, that was one of her first thoughts). Instead, she creates a business and a beautiful garden with her super savvy grandmother.”
This book also has a recipe that readers can follow to make lemonade, so you and your grandchildren can line up another fun activity to do together!
Find out more about the book here.
Grandpa's Great Escape
Written by David Walliams
This popular book tells the story of how Grandpa, a World War II pilot that flew Spitfires, and his grandson, Jack, plan a daring escape after he is sent to an old people’s home called Twilight Towers, which is run by the sinister Matron Swine.
Grandpa is a bit confused and thinks he is still fighting in World War II, but his grandson is the only person that understands him, and they begin a journey that neither will forget. However, something both of them are unaware of is that the evil matron is onto them.
The Grandpa’s Great Escape book is a high octane adventure that is full of comedy and heart that will set your grandchild’s imaginations on fire.
Find out more about the book here.
Silly Frilly Grandma Tillie
Written by Laurie Jacobs
Grandma Tillie is babysitting her grandchildren Chloe and Sophie for the night, but they soon learn that their gran isn’t quite as plain as she makes out.
Grandma Tillie turns into a number of different characters throughout the night including one that is a star of a show, a chef and a glamorous hairstylist.
As the children go to bed, they are expecting a new character to come and tuck them in, but it turns out to be the best character of all – just plain Grandma Tillie.
Although the book is aimed at your grandchildren you could read it yourself while you are bathing in your walk-in bath.
Find out more about the book here.
Llama Llama Gram and Grandpa
Written by Anna Dewdney
This title is part of the popular ‘Llama Llama’ series of picture books. The series follows pre-schooler Llama Llama on his adventures which range from his first day at school to Mother’s Day.
The ‘Llama Llama Gram and Grandpa’ book is about his first sleepover at his grandparents. As Llama Llama unpacks his things, he realises his favourite toy isn’t there, but his grandparents come to the rescue as they distract him with lots of fun activities.
The book has won high praise for being a relatable story that resonates with people that have forgotten to pack something important.
Find out more about the book here.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Written by Roald Dahl
Although Charlie and the Chocolate Factory doesn’t focus purely on a grandparent it does feature Charlie Bucket’s grandad as they visit Willy Wonka and his amazing factory.
Regarded by many as one of the best children stories ever written, the book takes readers on a journey as Willy Wonka, a famous inventor, opens up his chocolate factory to five lucky children and their guests. On the tour, they get introduced to the Oompa Loompa’s that work at the factory and gobstoppers, wriggle sweets and a river of melted chocolate.
As part of the story, Charlie takes his grandad Grandpa Joe on the factory tour and after deciding that they’ve won, Wonka offers Charlie the chance to live with him at the factory, but will not allow his family to come with him too. After refusing the offer and then helping Wonka reconcile with Wonka’s father, they are told that the whole family can move into the factory and make new candy product lines.
Find out more about the book here.
Other great books about grandparents
There are lots of great books about grandparents and here we go through some other notable publications you can add to your list:
- Cooking With Grandma – A story of a grandchild and their gran making delicious meals and taking them on adventures around the home.
- How to Babysit a Grandpa – A New York Times bestselling title that is a picture book about a child spending time with his grandad.
- Grandma’s Purse – Grandma Mimi comes to visit and she always brings her purse. From jewellery to tokens from around the world, there is always something special for her granddaughter in there.
- Drawn Together – This story follows a young boy visiting his grandfather and how despite lacking a common language, drawing together makes them form a bond that goes beyond words.
- Joy – Fern’s gran is not herself and her Mum says that all the joy seems to have gone out of her life. Fern then decides to go on a mission to get this joy back.
- Nana In The City – A boy visits his gran in the city, but he doesn’t like it. The grandmother then decides to show him how wonderful the city is.
This news article is from Handicare UK. Articles that appear on this website are for information purposes only and are up to date as of the time of publishing
