A Stopwatch From Grampa

A touching portrayal of the loss of a grandparent. “When summer started, I got Grampa’s stopwatch,” a small child says. “I don’t want his stopwatch. I want him.” Grampa used to time everything. A race to the end of the street and back: 24 seconds. Eating bubblegum ice cream: 1 minute, 58 seconds. But now, Grampa’s gone. “There are no more Grampa minutes, Grampa seconds,” the child says. “Time just stops.” But as time goes on, the stopwatch becomes a cherished symbol of remembrance, and the child uses it to carry on Grampa’s favorite pastimes and traditions. A treasured ritual from the past can sometimes offer the perfect bridge to the future.

A touching portrayal of the loss of a grandparent. “When summer started, I got Grampa’s stopwatch,” a small child says. “I don’t want his stopwatch. I want him.” Grampa used to time everything. A race to the end of the street and back: 24 seconds. Eating bubblegum ice cream: 1 minute, 58 seconds. But now, Grampa’s gone. “There are no more Grampa minutes, Grampa seconds,” the child says. “Time just stops.” But as time goes on, the stopwatch becomes a cherished symbol of remembrance, and the child uses it to carry on Grampa’s favorite pastimes and traditions. A treasured ritual from the past can sometimes offer the perfect bridge to the future.

This boisterous family needs to quiet down for their newly adopted baby. Or do they? When J.J. arrives at his new home, his family is so excited to meet him! The four children welcome their tiny brother, then, when he falls asleep, Dad asks everyone to try to be quiet. In no time at all, though, the clamor of family life grows loud, with drumming, shouting, chattering. But, surprise! J.J. sleeps through it all. Even with children running and yelling in his room, J.J. sleeps. Is there anything that will disturb him? Kids will delight in the delicious twist: when you’re with family, a noisy home is the most peaceful place to be.

A young boy’s original game coaxes a grieving grandpa to reconnect with the world in a touching intergenerational story of love and resilience. Henry loves talking with Grandpa, but Grandpa has stopped listening. Mom says to just give him time. But Henry wants to talk to Grandpa now. So Henry tries his favorite game: Top Threes. And something amazing happens: Grandpa starts talking again. Out of a tale of favorite sandwiches and zoo animals, outings and trains, emerges a moving story about love, loss, and the wonder of grannies and grandpas.

Age range 3 to 6 Grandpa's Stopwatch, about a child whose grandfather passes away, is a touching story of love, loss, and the healing power of time. Grandpa's favourite thing is a stopwatch, and he and his grandchild use it to time everything: racing to the end of the street and back (best speed: 24 seconds); the time it takes to eat a whole bubble gum ice cream cone (1 minute, 58 seconds -- brain freeze: 6 seconds); a snore-filled nap on the couch (20 minutes). When Grandpa dies, his grandchild inherits the beloved stopwatch. But the child doesn't want the stopwatch ... 'I want him.' The child throws the stopwatch into the back of a drawer, sadness overwhelms, and everything feels different. Nothing seems right, now that Grandpa is gone. But with the passage of time, the comforting tick, tick, tick of the stopwatch, and happy memories, life does move forward...

As her grandmother’s health declines, a young girl begins to lovingly take the lead in their cozy shared autumn traditions. Poetic prose paired with evocative illustrations by Mexican illustrator Claudia Navarro make for a beautiful celebration of life and a gentle introduction to the death of a loved one.

★ “Smith spins a quietly moving narrative...Wada’s large-scale woodblock style illustrations are a perfect complement to the story’s restrained text...The graceful way in which this book handles a sensitive and serious subject makes it a first purchase."—School Library Journal When the tsunami destroyed Makio's village, Makio lost his father . . . and his voice. The entire village is silenced by grief, and the young child's anger at the ocean grows. Then one day his neighbor, Mr. Hirota, begins a mysterious project—building a phone booth in his garden. At first Makio is puzzled; the phone isn't connected to anything. It just sits there, unable to ring. But as more and more villagers are drawn to the phone booth, its purpose becomes clear to Makio: the disconnected phone is connecting people to their lost loved ones. Makio calls to the sea to return what it has taken from him and ultimately finds his voice and solace in a phone that carries words on the wind. The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden is inspired by the true story of the wind phone in Otsuchi, Japan, which was created by artist Itaru Sasaki. He built the phone booth so he could speak to his cousin who had passed, saying, "My thoughts couldn't be relayed over a regular phone line, I wanted them to be carried on the wind." The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the town of Otsuchi, claiming 10 percent of the population. Residents of Otsuchi and pilgrims from other affected communities have been traveling to the wind phone since the tsunami.

Grace says goodbye to Grandmother in this touching book about love and loss. Grandmother lives with Grace’s family. She teaches her how to measure water for rice. She tells her stories about growing up in China and together they savor the flavors of her childhood. Grandmother says goodbye when she drops Grace off at school every morning and hello when she picks her up at the end of the day. Suddenly, Grandmother stops walking Grace to and from school, and the door to her room stays closed. Father comes home early to make dinner, but the rice bowls stay full. One day, Grandmother’s room is empty. And soon after, she is buried. After the funeral, Grace’s mom turns on all the outside lights so that Grandmother’s spirit can find its way home for one final goodbye. Carmen Mok’s gentle illustrations show the love between a child and her grandmother in this story that will resonate with anyone who has lost a loved one. Betty Quan’s picture-book debut is haunting yet hopeful. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6 Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3 Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7 Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

An entertaining, fact-packed introduction to the science of night. What happens when we go to sleep at night? Kids can find out in this fun exploration of the world after dark. This nonfiction book covers the surprising amount of activity going on at night with animals, plants, celestial objects and even our own bodies! Here are answers to all the questions kids have about nighttime — and many they have never thought of! — including: Why do we dream? How do bats use echolocation? What blooms in the moonlight? Why do stars twinkle? There’s so much here to investigate, kids will be up all night!

One hundred monkeys are hunting for food in this colorful counting book, but something else -- something big and scary -- is hungry, too! Young readers will find page-turning action on every page -- and more than 100 reasons to take a second look.