I really enjoyed this book. I found it to be different than the usual happy books about families. It allowed readers to see that getting old can be very hard and upsetting. However, this family was able to stay positive in the end. Instead of someone dying in the book, the author described how the grandma gradually started to forget more and more things. Finally, she had to go to a nursing home so people could take care of her all the time. This is my first time seeing this subject in a children's book. However, this subject is very important for young readers to be informed about. The central message in this book is family.

Summary: The grandma and little girl have a great relationship. They sing together, take walks together, and even go swim in the creek together! However, the little girl begins to see a change in her grandma. She soon starts to forget things like how to bake her cake and how to get home after they go on walks. Grandpa becomes very upset about the changes in grandma. He soon has to put new locks on the doors in their house because he's afraid she may leave the house and not know how to get back. After grandma continues to get worse, mom and grandpa think it's best to put grandma in a nursing home. Even though people say grandma no longer remembers anyone in the family, the little girl knows that grandma remembers her deep down. ( )

This book is about a little girl who loves her grandmother. The book discusses what it is like for the little girl to see that her grandmothers health is getting bad, she becomes very forgetful, and can no longer care for herself. I really liked this book. I found it really tug at the heart strings and I became emotional. I liked how this book showed how a young girl dealt with the tough situation. ( )

I loved this story. It even made me cry. I loved the characters in this book because they were real life characters with real life problems. The Gramma was starting to forget things, which can happen when people get old. I also liked the story plot because it was relatable. I know that I can personally relate because I know how difficult it is to have a family member with Alzheimer’s disease. The big idea of this story is that as life goes on, older people can start to forget things, but that does not mean they will stop loving you. ( )

“Always Gramma” by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson is a touching story of a girl’s relationship with her grandmother. As the grandmother gets older, she beings to show symptoms of dementia or possibly Alzheimer’s Disease, and the little girl shares her account of the grandmother’s actions. I really enjoyed this book because I was able to make a direct connection to the story. My grandmother, who passed last year, had very bad dementia for the last few years of her life. I imagined myself as the little girl, and through her innocent point of view, I was able to see my own grandmother’s dementia in a different light. I also enjoyed this story because of the illustrations. The illustrator drew the pictures in a way that was obscure and extremely clear at the same time. Each character is drawn in a very opaque way, as if the reader was looking at the illustrations through a foggy window. However, the facial expressions of each character are very clear and added to the context of the story. The main idea of “Always Gramma” was to describe the relationship between a little girl and her grandmother who suffers from dementia. ( )

Always Gramma
Vanda Micheaux Nelson
I liked this book for a number of reasons. For one thing I think that the way the author wrote it was very engaging and relatable. For me, reading this book from the narrator’s point of view, reminded me of my relationship with my grandma as well. The characters of the gramma, little girl, grampap, and mother were very realistic and believable. The little girl continuously repeats the line “I remember,” which makes the story flow and gives to its meaning. Another aspect of the book I enjoyed was the illustrations. They were very realistic and appropriate to the mood of the story. For example, each scene portrays the gramma getting older and losing her memory more and more throughout time. I liked how the drawings can fully portray the narrator and her gramma’s happiness and even their sadness. The book also pushes readers to think about tough issues such as our loved ones getting older. It may even help children to accept and cope with similar situations. I think that the “big idea” of the story is to have hope in your life no matter how touch things may be. Another message is that eventually parent-child roles may reverse and we should help our parents and grandparents as they get older, just as they did when we were young. ( )