This past Sunday was National Grandparents Day and there’s no better way to celebrate your grandparents than by getting together and sharing stories with one another.
One of my favorite memories was when my Greek grandparents shared stories about their childhood growing up in a town called Volos. Some of my favorite stories include a mention of their 10 plus cats or their holidays spent in France and the Philippines. Although they were unable to read picture books written in English to me, I still loved hearing their stories.
Whether your grandparents live near or far, celebrate National Grandparents day with these great reads:
The Granddaughter Necklace
By Sharon Dennis Wyeth, Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
There are moments in each person’s life that we take great care to remember: the pride of a young girl standing up for herself for the first time, the heartbreak of leaving one’s country and family for a new beginning, the thrill of getting ready for the piano recital of a lifetime. In Sharon Dennis Wyeth’s family these moments were marked with the passing on of The Granddaughter Necklace: not a fancy piece of jewelry, but a precious one, worn smooth by the touch of mothers and grandmothers, each with her own story to tell. With a historical sweep that reaches back to Ireland and to Africa, and an intimacy that resides in every family’s treasured stories, Wyeth tells the tale of one family's journey from the old world to the new, from the past to the present, and from mother to daughter.
I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Dreidel 
By Caryn Yacowitz, Illustrated by David Slonim
A family drives through the snow to visit their beloved bubbe, who spreads out a Chanukah supper for everyone to enjoy. But one dish goes a little wrong. Indeed, Bubbe’s first bite leads to an insatiable taste for oil, latkes, applesauce, gelt—even menorahs! But as the family tries to distract her from her gluttony, the items she devours grow ever larger. Will they be able to reconnect with her and bring her home for the last night of Chanukah—or will her feasting in fact be fatal?
Under the Same Sun
By Sharon Robinson, Illustrated by A.G. Ford
Auntie Sharon and Grandmother Bibi have come to visit the family in Tanzania—all the way from America! Soon it will be Bibi's 85th birthday, and her seven grandchildren are planning a big surprise! After days together at home telling stories and filling gaps from the years spent apart, it’s time to embark on their secret journey—a safari in Serengeti National Park. But too soon, it’s their last day together. And in a bittersweet moment, at the ruins of an old slave port, Bibi’s African-born grandchildren come to learn what happened to their ancestors who went by slave ship to America.
What is your favorite memory you have with your grandparents?
