Just+Grandpa+And+Me

=__**Just Grandpa and Me**__=



Title: Just Grandpa and Me
Author and Illustrator: Mercer Mayer Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (March 13, 2001) Paperback: 24 pages ISBN: 0-307-11936-X Reading Level: 3-7 years

Author Biography
Mercer Mayer is the writer and illustrator for Little Critter First Readers, as well as Little Critter Spectrum. He began writing and illustrating children’s books in 1966 and since that time, he has published over 300 titles. Mercer Mayer was born in Arkansas in 1943. When he was thirteen years old, his family moved to Hawaii. After high school, he attended the Honolulu Academy of Arts, and then he went to New York City and the Art Students League. He and his wife, Gina, write the Little Critter stories together. They live in Connecticut. In 2007, Mercer Mayer was chosen to be the National Book Festival Artist of the Year.

Summary
This book is about the little critter who needed a new suit. The little critter and his grandpa decided to take a trip to the store because he was growing taller every year. The story is about the adventure that they go on together to buy a new suit. They bought the train tickets and sang songs on the way to the department store. Then little critter and grandpa played with a revolving door. Once they finally got into the store grandpa and little critter got separated, but were able to find each other quickly. Then they went on an escalator ride to get to the critter suit department and tried them on until he found the perfect one. After they purchased a new suit, grandpa took little critter to the movies and out to supper at a Chinese restaurant. On the train ride home litter critter took a nap. Little critter was excited to show his mom the new suit him and his grandpa got together.

Book Review
This book is great for beginning readers. The use of illustrations helps young readers to have a good understanding of what is going on throughout the book. I like the how little critter looks up to his grandpa and how the book shows a strong family relationship. I also like the use of phrasing, such as "I held Grandpa's hand so he wouldn't get lost." The author told wrote the story in the younger child's point of view, but as we know that is not the reality of the situation. We would think of it as the child would not get lost, rather than grandpa.

Literary Element Analysis
The theme of this book is spending quality time with family. Little critter looks up to grandpa and wants him to help pick out his shirt and tie. Little critter is very fond of his grandpa and excited to return home to show his mother the suit they picked out together. The theme is well portrayed in this book through the writing. On almost every page of the book Grandpa is mentioned or it says "just grandpa and me." Little critter and grandpa go into the city to go shopping and the books explains the different events of the day. I feel that even though the main goal was for the growing little critter to get a new suit, the importance of the story was the memory and experience he had with his grandpa.