Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

In this melting pot of a country that we call the United States, many of us live far away from family, with some of us having family in a different country as well. Susan Layne, a 4th generation Texan living far away from her children and grandchildren, captured perfectly the feeling when families are finally gathered together in one place. In this charming book, after waiting and watching from the “when-will-they-get-here” window, Elinor is finally re-united with her Grandma and Grandpa. A wonderful visit ensures, with the extended family going to the seashore where Grandpa eats fried oysters and Grandma feeds the ducks. A great day is had by all and then Grandpa and Grandma fly back home.

The illustrations in this sparsely-worded book really bring the story to life. Elinor’s bright red curls seem to leap off the page, and the adorable family dog with his well-placed spots even gets to go along to the seashore. The illustrations bring lots of movement to each page, with leaves falling, Elinor’s feet kicking up when she swings, and Mom and Dad carrying sleeping Elinor up the stairs to bed.

My favorite thing about this story is Layne’s use of hyphens to create compound adjectives all throughout the book. As I was reading the book (as a grown-up with no children nearby) I could just imagine the pacing of reading these compound adjectives in this story aloud to a group of young students during a visit to the school library, or to one special grandchild.

I hope that the author and illustrator team up to bring us more-visits-from-Elinor’s-grandparents!

Thank you to Mascot Kids, an imprint of Amplify Publishing Group, for the ARC, which I have donated to my school library!