Your First Grandchild: The Survival guide for every new grandparent: Useful, touching and hilarious guide for first-time grandparents

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Fun to Do: The last thing you want to give grandparents is another chore. The memory book should be fun to complete and fill them with excitement to pass down their most cherished memories. If they are reluctant, give them the book at a time when you’re together and have the grandchild ask the questions while someone else records the answers in the book. Odds are, you feel as much fondness for your children's grandparents (or your own grandparents!) as Ree Drummond does. Of her own mother, the grandmother of her children, she gushes, "People come away from having talked to her feeling a little more hopeful about life."

As a child being read this or reading this with your family, you couldn’t help but feel on top of the world afterward.” There was always stuff that needed doing in my grandparents garden and I was always more than keen to help out. I have many fond memories of them from when I was very young. I stayed with my grandparents while my little sister was being born. In these ways, my grandparents took on parenting responsibilities—as well as helping my mum out.Gorgeous artwork and lyrical words depict a GRAND day of grandkids spending time with their grandparents. It’s a day with tea and toast, paint and plants, dances and dress-up, and so much love! Gift this to the grandparents in your life! Good to Be Grand: Making the Most of Your Grandchild’s First Year by Cheryl Harbour with a foreword by Hillary Clinton

A lyrical story of a boy’s memories of his abuelo. The boy’s abuelo teaches him that there are many ways to be strong, fuerte ; that it’s good to laugh, es bueno reirse ; and to look, mira , at the stars. Even when the boy moves to the big city, his abuelo is always with him in spirit. This “hot off the press” book takes a look at the ways grandparenting used to be done, what still works, and explores new ideas in child-rearing. It’s part practical advice and part inspiration for the monumental task of becoming a grandparent for the first time. The book is divided into chapters that take the reader through the grandchild’s first year and serves as a resource for new grandparents. If you’re a new grandparent or are soon be one, here are four books chosen by Ask Granny, to help you get into the spirit of a brand new world when it comes to raising children. You’ll find out we didn’t put them to bed in the right position, we’re not careful enough about germs and a whole raft of other tidbits of information. Anita breaks Abeula’s special flan dish–and she feels guilty but doesn’t say anything while she’s helping her grandparents mix and cook and share the stories of their past. Anita finally confesses what happened and her abuela is happy to know the truth and isn’t mad. “A plate is a plate but YOU are irreplaceable.” You’ll love the story’s relatable topic, the mix of both languages, the Cuban culture, and the love that bursts through the relationships. Things? Not To Do With Granny by Margaret McAllister and Holly Sterling – it’s presented like a rule book which I just love. The best thing about this book is just the joy in it – and the silliness.A little boy initially only notices their differences when he visits his grandpa in Korea. He notices their different language and the different smells and foods. But when he makes a mistake, his grandpa kindly gives the boy a peach. That shifts the boy’s attention. Now the boy finds all the things that they have in common — laughter, singing, their appearance, chocolate. When it’s time to leave, the boy can’t wait to visit again. These are very active grandparents, they aren’t wrapped in a blanket in a comfy chair by the fire. These are grannies that do karate!”

The focus on the two grannies works well. I don’t think the parents feature at all. There’s no granddad. It’s just unashamedly focusing on two grannies. Two active older ladies, which it seems like the media is terrified of. I think that’s lovely. Your First Grandchild: A Useful, Touching and Hilarious Guide for First-time Grandparents by Peggy Vance and Claire Nielson Nora spends summers with Lola in the Philippines. This is the first year Nora is big enough to work at the sari-sari store.She cleans, measures, and sorts. But, the customers aren’t coming to the store. What can Nora do to help Lola? She suggests they make ice candy with the ripe mangoes from their tree. And the customers love them! A sweet story of culture, family, and food. I can’t remember who said this, but it’s something I heard and always have lived by: a good picture book empowers the child. In this book we do have the traditional fragile looking granny, by the fire with the blanket, and a little girl who just wants to make her feel better. We don’t know what’s wrong with granny, which I think is nicely done. Is she ill or just feeling a bit sad? The child is empowered in the story to cheer her granny up. She takes the initiative: I’m going to go and make granny better.For a fun family activity, the " Memories for My Grandchild Keepsake Journal" is easy to complete and simple to share with friends and family once it’s done. For a special memento that’s geared for one grandchild, " Letters to My Grandchild" is a nice mix of prompts and open-ended writing. What to Look for in Keepsake Books for Grandchildren There was always talk of his extended family out in Calcutta, and the wonderful food. His classic saying was always, “Ten pounds, you’ll live like a king.” So, it represented this exotic land but also this place where, being from a poor family, we would be suddenly rich. He was also the grandparent who would give me five pound notes for doing little jobs. I remember once he said to me, “Why do you love me and your grandmother?” And, I said something like, “I love gran because she cooks the food and I love you because you give me fivers.” Jillian is worried that loving her stepdad’s mom, her new Bubbe, will be a betrayal to her other grandparents. Her mom encourages Jillian to give Bubbe a chance and Jillian soon realizes her heart is big enough for all her three grandmas. She invites them all for a soup dinner and it’s a delicious, heart-expanding time. “ Like soup, family was made with love. And there was always room for more.“ The book begins with illustrations in greys and muted colours. You’ve got granny in her home with the pictures all askew and a wonderful cat in the middle who appears very unimpressed. Even the flowers are dead. Then this expressive little girl—a bundle of joy—tiptoes around gathering all the things she’ll need to collect “joy.” My son loved reading it because he loves dressing up—and certainly he’ll happily layer a Robin Hood outfit over a fairy princess dress. He doesn’t differentiate.

I love all the expressions on the characters’ faces. You know exactly what they’re thinking. Even the minor characters appear to have vivid lives. They’re all thinking something, they’re all real. I think this is the essence of this book is that it’s all about that role of grandparents to kind of be the other parents, to be there in times of need. Clearly this is a time of need. He’s going to see Granny because Mum and Dad had an argument, so Dad left. Dad left for the night. Stormed out, I imagine.I just think Sam’s book is gorgeous. Focusing on that relationship between the little boy and his grandfather, and having adventures that are dictated by the weather. Other books in the series are Storm, Rainand Snow. Nothing stops them from going out. It’s just the simplest of stories—a little boy with his grandmother on a bus, seeing these beautiful ladies dressed as mermaids. You can watch him as he gets the idea, “I could be a mermaid!” He’s clearly reading a book about mermaids, you can just make out the outline of a mermaid in the book that he’s got on his lap. That link of being inspired by the things that you read, of kids seeing themselves reflected in books. I think it’s so important. His transformation is just delightful. He’s such a character—the way he delights at his tail.