If a new mother asks people to recommend picture books, Grandpa must have a way (Wen. Photo/Phoebe. Gilman [plus] must be among them, with no exceptions.
This book won the prize: Ruth Schwartz Children's Book Award in Canada, Sydney Taylor Award in the United States, selected for the Japan Children's Book Research Association, "Picture Book • 300 Books Selected for Children" compiled by the Picture Book Research Department, selected for the list of open books in Taiwan's "China Times", selected by the Chinese Ministry of Education as a national outstanding children's book, and in October 2021, it was also selected by experts of the Ministry of Education as a picture book recommended for young children.
What kind of story is "Grandpa Must Have a Way"? The story is simple: Joseph lives in a small Jewish village and has developed a deep relationship with his grandfather since he was a child. The blanket grandpa made for Joseph, even if it was old and broken, Joseph was reluctant to throw it away, he believed that Grandpa always had a way to turn old things into new things. Under Grandpa's clever hands, the blanket gradually became a coat, vest, tie, handkerchief and button. In the end, the buttons were lost, and there was no way to turn them into something new. Joseph learned the secret of changing from old to new—he wrote a story that gave new meaning to what had disappeared.
Yes, it's such a story that can be read in five minutes, and the children can't get tired of reading it. Many parents do not understand, why do children like it so much? Where exactly is the picture book classic?
"Grandpa Must Have a Way" is derived from the Yiddish folk song "I Have a Little Coat" (the same content is "Joseph Has an Old Coat", etc.), which continues the style of the folk song, and the author repeats it with repetitive and rhythmic and textual, which is both warm and catchy. A magical piece of clothing that makes the climax of the story overlap and advance layer by layer.
When reading, children especially like the "repetitive and rhythmic" parts:
Joseph said, "Grandpa must have a way."
Grandpa picked up the ****, turned it over, and turned it over again.
"Well..." Grandpa picked up the scissors and began to creak and cut, and then used the needle to sew in and out quickly. Grandpa said, "This piece of material is enough to make..."
Every time they read this, the child will follow it or giggle as they listen. Repetitive and rhythmic text, especially liked by children around 2-3 years old, is also easy to understand. In reading, the fusion of spoken language and written language can promote the development of children's language; secondly, in repetition, children also feel the love and wisdom of grandpa, starting from the blanket, grandpa is like a "love" magician, so that blankets become coats, coats become vests, vests become ties, ties become handkerchiefs, handkerchiefs become buttons... Let the children return to life, but also often use "Grandpa must have a way", saying "Mom/Dad must have a way", which is the most original and subtle influence in picture book reading.
I have to say, this is a particularly warm story. Under the warm yellow tones, the feelings between the Joseph family, especially the grandfather and grandson, the neighbors in the town full of human touches, every picture seems ordinary, but every detail in every corner is permeated with pleasure and peace. Look at the furniture and objects in the room, the happy friends calling friends and playing with each other, the neighbors greeting each other and helping each other, and the parrot that saw the bagel and the open mouth talking, the most simple tiles on the roof and the most polished stones on the road... You'll feel that the joy of the streets is even overflowing beyond the paper.
Especially every time the old object mother said to throw away, Joseph thought that "Grandpa must have a way", pedaled two legs to Grandpa, watched Grandpa put on reading glasses, observed and thought about what else can become, that warmth can melt you, you can also feel Joseph's dependence on Grandpa, or Grandpa gave Joseph a sense of security. Grandpa's scissors are a magic love scissors that make all love tangible and visible.
When the child begins to read the picture book for the second and third nth times, in addition to the magic rhythmic language and the magic scissors of the grandfather, the child is most interested in following the progress of Joseph's story, looking at the wordless story of the "Mouse Family" below the story book, and enjoying doubling the pleasure of reading.
The double story of the same picture is definitely a strange reading journey for children. When Grandpa turned the blanket into a coat, the broken steps that fell became the opportunity for the mouse couple to build a house, and as the fabric of Joseph's blanket changed into a coat to a button, in the process of getting smaller and smaller, the mouse couple's home was decorated more and more beautifully, the sheets and curtains and tablecloths were all star rags, and with the birth of the child, the rags gradually became the clothes and hat aprons on the rat babies.
Every time Joseph's grandfather began to cut and turn magic, the children began to observe, what was done in the hands of the rat, and when the last button also fell into the mouse's house, it became the climax of the mouse story, and you would see the mouse pick up the button, as surprised as if he had picked up a jewel, and they put it on the table and discussed what it was? In the final picture, the child found that the button turned into a cushion in the mouse's house, which was too unexpected, and also made the children feel that their observation of themselves was particularly strong!
Watching Joseph's family lively, the mouse family below is also lively; above Joseph and his friends playing, below the baby rats are also playing, above Joseph's neighbors are washing and chatting by the river, the mouse family below is also washing clothes by the water... The picture is surprisingly harmonious, and the two spatial narratives add a lot of fun to the story.
After watching it over and over again, the growth of some people hidden in the story, have you noticed?
For example, the cultivation of observation After reading the story, does the child discover the growth line of his sister other than Joseph? Little by little Joseph grew up, when the little blanket turned into a coat, Joseph's mother already had a baby in her belly, when Joseph's coat turned into a vest, Joseph's sister was born... Let your child see, from blankets to buttons, how old is Joseph?
In addition, the "change" that runs through the whole story starts from a blanket, from Joseph's obsession with blankets, what will make you think? "Arvin's Little Blanket"? Right. It's also a story about security. The grandfather in the story is really a loving grandfather, he respects the child, patiently treats the child's needs, and protects the child's sense of security.
In addition, grandpa's wisdom and diligence in turning waste into treasure are also very worthy of our attention and the thinking of children's growth and education. Today's children have too many toys and clothes, do not know how to cherish, it is more difficult to understand the tradition of thrift and thrift, feel the wisdom of turning waste into treasure.
You can read so much in a picture book, and in the open-ended ending, do you still find anything?
Look at the end of the story: Joseph and the family who surrounded him said: These materials are enough... Write a wonderful story. (The little mouse at the bottom of the page also wants to say something to his family like Joseph, which is probably a "wonderful" story))
Mei Zihan commented: This wonderful "ending" makes the story desperate, with a light and poetic farewell. But this wonderful story has actually been written before the farewell, so that you can read it, so the end is also the beginning, and many excellent literary works, the beginning and the end are so echoed back and forth, connected to each other, like drawing an impeccable circle, and the aftertaste is endlessly clustered. Reading this, the children excitedly discussed that the sister had a small blanket and could also write a wonderful story; or we would help the mouse write a "wonderful" story!
Haha, let's write a wonderful story together!
Read the classic series "Grandpa Must Have a Way" together
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