This past year I have noticed a real surge in a certain type of bookstore customer: the grandparent, usually grandma, with a grandchild. As the economy has tightened, it seems more and more grandparents are providing childcare. And a favorite activity is coming to the bookstore.
Every Tuesday, a grandma I’ll call Nono comes in every morning with Addie, who is about two and a half. I usually see them at the coffee shop when I pick up my iced latte, they are there having a hot chocolate and a snack. I love the ritual of this day.
I spoke to Nono about her Tuesdays. She said she picks Addie in the morning and has her until about three. And every week, Nono asks Addie if she wants to go to the library or the bookstore. Happily for us, she almost always wants to come to the store.
I’ve noticed two things about grandparents and their grandkids. The first is, oftentimes, when there is more than one child, the grandparents can seems a little more flustered by the kids than their parent. I attribute this only to not being around kids a lot. Most adults who don’t have children actually hear every word the kids say. They hear all the “mom” “mom” and want to attend to each utterance. This can make for a long day for a care provider. Smart kids know they can get a lot of attention by doing this.
The second thing I’ve noticed is grandparents don’t often say no when a child expresses interest in a book. They are thrilled to share a story. What I hear a lot is Nono telling Addie stories about her child. “When your mom was little she loved Maybelle the Cable Car.” It’s just lovely. And usually, Nono buys a book, or two and sometimes three if they’re paperback. Sometimes older kids will “forget” the rules of the house and say it’s okay to get a book when they know full well they can’t. There’s nothing I can do about this even if I know the house rules. But if I see this happening, I might guide the purchase to something affordable.
There is something special about the grandchild/grandparent relationship. And I, too, love Nono’s Tuesday.
just a note.. not sure if the grandma you refer to is Italian, but if she is, then she’s Nonna, Italian for grandmother. Nonno would be grandfather..
or I’m way off base & it has nothing to do with Italian.. 🙂
The grandparent in question is not Italian, that’s just what she likes to be called.
If Elizabeth doesn’t write this picture book, someone else will!
As a librarian and teacher, I often suggest to grandparents in this situation that they watch a film with their grandchild/grandchildren, then read and talk about the book it’s based on. This works best with kids of 8 to 14, obviously; I also notice that results are much better if the book is an e-book. I like to recommend the Scarlet Oak Press editions of page-to-screen classics, because the layouts are clear, and the extras and discussion guides are prepared by Princeton University faculty, so quality is very high.
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=scarlet+oak+press&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
This seems like a great way to promote reading to the next generation… Could be a great opportunity for indies… recurring events revolving around multi-generational reading… Grandkids Corner or something similar