Review - Grandma's Girl

Grandma's Girl
by Susanna Leonard Hill
illustrated by Laura Bobbiesi
Date: 2020
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Nothing truly compares to the special bond between grandma and granddaughter. With heartwarming rhymes and beautiful illustrations of diverse grandmothers and granddaughters, Grandma's Girl is the perfect way to bring generations together. It's a touching story about all the things a young girl learns and becomes, and how Grandma understands, because she's been there before.

Of all the most marvelous things in this world
There are few that can truly compare
To the heartwarming, special, unbreakable bond
That a grandma and granddaughter share.

(synopsis from NetGalley; see it on Goodreads)

I've read a few books in this vein now, so I'm starting to be able to rank them. This book falls somewhere in the middle. It has a sweet sentiment and cute illustrations, but it seems overly long and has sections of clunky rhyme.

This would be a nice book for little girls who still have living grandmas. The final copy will apparently have some stationery so the grandmother can write a letter to her granddaughter. That's fine, but it further limits the audience to kids who have good relationships with their grandmothers. As this is already aimed solely at girls with living grandmas, anything that further excludes potential readers might not be a great thing.

But if this book fits your needs, there's really nothing wrong with it. Similar books a grandma might want to check out for her grandkids are It's Good to Have a Grandma by Maryann Macdonald and Priscilla Burris or Grandma's Christmas Wish by Helen Foster James and Petra Brown, both of which approach the topic from a more gender-neutral perspective (for those grandmas who don't actually have any granddaughters).

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Wonderland for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3 out of 5