Grandad
by Janet Pereira
Auckland, New Zealand: Reed Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 9781869484262/1869484266
This story tells of a young Maori girl who is coming to terms with the death of her beloved Grandad. She tells of the things that make her Grandad special, and of how she struggles to accept the idea of him getting older and becoming more and more sick and frail. When he eventually dies, the story beautifully interweaves the responses of Maori, Pacific Island and Pakeha into the grieving process, as different family members find different ways to express their beliefs and traditions.
This is a story about love and loss, which has been exquisitely illustrated by Bruce Potter. His watercolour images show clearly the emotion in the faces of Grandad’s grieving family.
This book was nominated because it represents multicultural New Zealand.
A New Zealand Curriculum-linked activity for this book can be found here.