Sharon Giltrow (text) and Dhwani Gosalia (illustrator), Let’s go shopping, Grandma!, DixiBooks, September 2023, 28 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), 9781913680510
Let’s go shopping, Grandma! is a picture book story about a child and Grandma going grocery shopping together, except with adult / child roles reversed. Grandma’s bad behaviour is typical of an impulsive, demanding pre-schooler. But the responsible child character knows just how to calmly and firmly manage her.
I love author Giltrow’s tongue in cheek, playful humorous telling of the story in the first-person voice of the child character who addresses the reader, explaining how to manage the challenges of a Grandma’s difficult behaviour.
This makes for entertaining storytelling of what could otherwise be a mundane shopping trip.
Gosalia’s lovely, water colour style images fill the pages with illustrations of the child and Grandma against a bus or home or bountiful supermarket backdrop. Humorous images of Grandma “misbehaving” make the ironic humour of the role reversal more concrete and accessible for preschoolers. I also love how the illustrations imply the warm relationship between Grandma and child.
This book has appeal to a wide age range. My 2-year-old granddaughter enjoyed looking at the images and naming the familiar supermarket produce. For older preschoolers there’s the humour of Grandma misbehaving – and maybe an insight into parenting challenges too. And for adults reading to them, there is the ironic humour of the role reversal and the knowing recognition of typical child rearing difficulties.
I recommend this book for 2–6 year-olds and the adults who read to them.
Reviewed by Barbara Swartz
Find an interview with author, Sharon Giltrow here.
