Grandmas and Grandpas Both Give Their Best to Their Grandkids

So many children are fortunate enough to have grandparents who can dote on them and teach them about the world. In What Grandmas Do Best / What Grandpas Do Best, Laura Numeroff and illustrator Lynn Munsinger explore the power of this bond. Both Numeroff and Munsinger have numerous books to their credit, most involving animals. This one is especially simplistic, especially on Numeroff’s end, but I like the clever concept behind the book. It’s not the sort of book that seems likely to demand frequent repeat readings, but it would make a nice addition to a child’s shelf.

There are only 12 sentences in this book - and six of them are exactly the same as the other six, with the exception of one word. Half of the book shows all the things that Grandmas can do; the other half, which is read by turning the book upside down and opening the book from the opposite cover, has to do with grandpas’ activities. And what do you know? They’re the same things. This encourages a sense of gender equality and allows for some fun as we see how the grandpas and grandmas approach the same things differently.

At the same time, it makes for a rather uninvolved book, especially since ten of the twelve sentences begin “Grandmas / Grandpas can...” And the last sentence in each half of the book merely delays that opening with an introductory clause. The first five sentences in each half contain three activities per sentence, with each activity on a separate page. This makes the format very predictable and a bit stilted, since there is no variety in the sentence structure.

However, while Numeroff might be accused of sacrificing creativity for structure here, Munsinger’s illustrations are engaging as always. For each of the ten initial sentences, Munsinger provides three illustrations of the same child-grandparent pair. Hence, we feel like we’re getting a bit of a peek into the lives of ten different families. Most pictures show only the child and the grandparent, always working and playing together in close quarters.

The final page of each half, meanwhile, shows all five pairs scattered around a white page. Perhaps the most engaging of the illustrations are actually the two-page spreads immediately inside the book, which bring all the characters into close proximity with each other in a couple of outdoorsy scenes. There’s even some interaction among them, as the dogs and pigs on the Grandpa side share an umbrella and the raccoons and mice on the Grandma side work together to build a sandcastle.

The unique layout of the book, coupled with the adorable illustrations, makes it a cute choice for very young children to read with their own grandparents. It might even spark an idea or two about what they can do on their next outing, and perhaps reading it will inspire a brand-new grandparent-grandchild portrait. While this is not the most complex project either Numeroff or Munsinger has taken on, What Grandmas Do Best / What Grandpas Do Best is a very cute tribute to the love that grandparents and grandchildren share.

Count to Ten and Beyond With a Christmassy Mouse

In my intensive Christmas book perusals, I've come to discover that mice are pretty popular as subjects for holiday tales. Maybe the mouse's small role in the opening lines of the iconic A Visit From St. Nicholas has something to do with that, maybe not. But The Little Drummer Mouse, Who Is Coming to Our House?, A Merry Little Christmas: Celebrate From A to Z and Angelina's Christmas are just a few examples of Christmas books that feature mice in prominence. Another is Merry Christmas, Mouse! by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond.

Numeroff and Bond have collaborated on several mouse-related books in the past, starting with If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, which has become a classic. Merry Christmas, Mouse!, a sturdy mid-sized board book, is their latest, and while it's very short on text, that doesn't make it any less adorable than their previous efforts.

Mouse has taken it upon himself to decorate the Christmas tree, and each page brings a new type of decoration. First he puts up one ornament, then two of a kind, then three of a another kind all the way up to ten, at which point the book takes an unexpected and entertaining turn. Among the decorations Mouse uses are traditional favorites like angels, snowflakes, snowmen and tin soldiers, but he also changes things up a bit by including robots and rocket ships.

Not only is the book a fun lesson in counting, it enables kids to feel as though they are decorating the tree along with Mouse. My family's Christmas tree has always been beautifully chaotic, with a marvelous mish-mash of uncoordinated ornaments, and it's fun to see Mouse's tree similarly arrayed, particularly at the end of the book when we realize just how big a decorating job he has ahead of him!

Merry Christmas, Mouse! contains only four sentences, but the vibrant illustrations say enough that few words are needed. If you give a mouse a Christmas tree and a box of ornaments, a lot of fun will follow!

Sherm's Just a Dog Who Can't Say No

I'm just a girl who can't say no. That's not to say that, like Oklahoma's Ado Annie, I'm helpless to resist the advances of overeager suitors - though I've never really been tested in that regard so it's hard to say. You see, I suffer from an almost crippling lack of gumption, so when someone makes a request of me, it's hard for me to refuse, even if complying doesn't make much sense. I'm forever in need of some powder milk biscuits, which Garrison Keillor promises "gives shy persons the courage to get up and do what needs to be done." Seems I have something in common with the affable canine protagonist of Laura Numeroff and Nate Evans' Sherman Crunchley.

Sherman is a police officer in Biscuit City, a town entirely populated by dogs. But he's not just any cop. He's the son of the chief of police. And the grandson. And the great-grandson. Yes, this line of police chiefs extends back for generations, so he knows his future is laid out for him, and he's going to have to come to terms with it soon, since his father is retiring in a month. Many pooches would be excited about taking on such a prestigious position. But Sherman, much as he loves his father, hates being a cop. He's so non-confrontational, he lets parking violators slide, he breaks up fights by distracting dueling dogs with free doughnuts, and he always gets stuck with the paperwork because he's the only one on the force who hasn't the nerve to refuse, even once in a while. So if he's unhappy (and often ineffective) in his current position, he's sure he'll be even more miserable as the chief. But how can he share those misgivings with his dad?

Not only does Sherman not have a passion for policing, he does have a passion for a particular pursuit: making and collecting hats. As in Miss Fannie's Hat, we are treated to a wide range of headgear, from Sherman's own snazzy police hat and the silly chicken hat he wears while ordering an instructional video called Must Say No to the even sillier birdhouse hat on his head when he reads about a hypnotist and the turban the hypnotist wears while attempting to put Sherman into a trance in which he will be able to refuse his father.

Tim Bowers's richly detailed illustrations are gorgeous, full of vibrant color and humor. Sherman is a brown and white hound dog whose hesitation and kindness Bowers conveys beautifully. We meet other dogs as well: the Chihuahua hypnotist with half-circle spectacles, the Poodle who serves as administrative assistant at the police station, the vast array of Collies, Labs, German Shepherds, Huskies and others that show up for his father's retirement dinner. Bowers is a fantastic artist who reminds me of C. F. Payne, who provides the back-cover illustration for Reader's Digest and collaborated with John Lithgow on the enchanting Micawber and amusing The Remarkable Farkle McBride, and I'm eager to check out the other books he has worked on.

Sherman Crunchley is an affirming book that emboldens those of us who suffer from a surfeit of shyness to speak up when being led into an uncomfortable situation. Sherman's solution is marvelously creative without being cruel, and the ending is satisfying for all concerned. If a timid dog can pluck up that kind of nerve, maybe a lass in sore need of powder milk biscuits can as well.