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Reading together: tips for children's books with stories about old and young
Photo: Lordn / iStockphoto / Getty Images
Relatives such as grandparents, aunts or uncles are often gifts for children.
They are people who, at best, belong to you and who love you unconditionally.
They form a network of relationships and can wonderfully spice up a childhood.
This is especially true for grandparents.
While in some children's books they used to be frail or already deceased, today they often have their own exciting lives and an interesting past.
Some stories for children are about their quirks, others about their life story.
The figure of the hippie grandma or the handicraft grandpa is also popular.
And there are the serious stories that try to explain dementia or death in comforting images.
The following recommendations are a colorful mix for children of kindergarten and primary school age.
It's about a flying grandpa, a grandma who takes pictures, the loss of a loved one and a kidnapped grandma.
»Grandpa flies«
Now I'm definitely a Markus Orths fan.
Because he does not write a good children's novel, but always reliably delivers original, imaginative stories.
This work is a beginning reader's book with large type, yet reads like a real book, not like the baby version of a "real" book.
Perfect for this: The pictures of the Hamburg illustrator Kerstin Meyer, whose fan I have been for a long time.
With her, there is often such beautiful amazement in the children's faces as well as a clever joke in the picture compositions.
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Markus Orths and Kerstin Meyer
grandpa flies
Publisher: Moritz
Number of pages: 96
Publisher: Moritz
Number of pages: 96
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What's going on here?
It's never boring with Grandpa Winnie, 107 years old.
He holds 857 records, including the fastest runner and the flatulence record (2 minutes and 14 seconds without a break).
He has that particularly trusting, carefree relationship with his grandchildren Marlon and Melanie, which can exist between old and young.
All the nonsense he feeds the kids culminates when he brews a magic potion that actually lets him fly.
Soon after, grandpa dies and flies away forever.
But that's not the end of the story at all, because he showed them how they can still be together.
»Grandpa Flies« is perhaps the funniest book about joie de vivre and death.
Best reading time:
Something funny, please.
Recommended age:
from 7 years.
"Grandma again and again"
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Ilan Brenman, Guilherme Karsten (Illustrations)
Always grandma
Publisher: Jumbo
Number of pages: 32
Publisher: Jumbo
Number of pages: 32
Buy for €15.00
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By the way: You don't have to participate in every newfangled thing.
The fun-loving grandmother knows this in the story »Immer wieder Oma« by author Ilan Brenman and illustrator Guilherme Karsten.
She photographs steadfastly with her analog camera.
Because photography does not stop time, but at best it captures beautiful memories.
What's going on here?
Grandma knows how to swing a pig and climbs to the monkeys in the zoo.
Of course that's great.
But she can be quite annoying with her constant photography.
She even takes pictures of her granddaughter under water.
Awkward.
But it's not that stupid.
Because at the end the girl holds a very special gift in her hands.
Best reading time:
before photography starts again.
Recommended age:
from 3 years.
"My grandfather's watch"
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Samuel Castano Mesa
My grandfather's watch
Translation: Jochen Weber
Publisher: Baobab Books
Number of pages: 44
Translation: Jochen Weber
Publisher: Baobab Books
Number of pages: 44
Buy for €17.00
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Small picture book about the great importance of older relatives, family memories and the passage of time.
»My Grandfather's Clock« was published by a Swiss publisher that offers books from all over the world, many of them in two languages.
Interesting for everyone and especially useful for multilingual families.
What's going on here?
Grandpa has a ticking wall clock that has to be wound regularly.
Your ticking accompanies everyday family life.
When the grandfather dies, the clock stops.
How is life going on for the family now?
A warm story, told in Spanish and German and with great collages.
Best time to read:
When the family gets together.
Recommended age:
from 5 years.
»The barefoot gang and the stolen grandma«
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Jörg Steinleitner, Daniela Kohl (Illustration)
The barefoot gang and the stolen grandma
Publisher: Arena
Number of pages: 160
Publisher: Arena
Number of pages: 160
Buy for €13.00
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Full marks for the many funny illustrations and an authentic detective story.
In addition, »The Barefoot Gang and the Stole Grandma« is about all sorts of other things that the author Jörg Steinleitner wrote down in a very funny way.
For example how friendship develops or how life is in a village.
Steinleitner should know, after all he is the mayor of a municipality in Bavaria.
What's going on here?
Four children have just started a gang, and there is already the first case: Grandma Schnitzel is gone, it must be a kidnapping.
The gang meticulously works their way through the village, questioning suspects and collecting clues.
A wonderful summer story about self-sufficient children and an equally independent grandma.
Best Reading Time:
Before You Start a Gang.
Recommended age:
from 8 years.
»night lamp fright«
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Stephanie Schneider and Nele Palmtag
night lamp fright
Publisher: Beltz & Gelberg
Number of pages: 30
Publisher: Beltz & Gelberg
Number of pages: 30
Buy for €13.00
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"Night Lamp Fever" is a cuddly picture book for anyone who wants to stay somewhere else or is expecting visitors to stay overnight.
Because you can learn a few tricks from Luzie's grandmother if night lamp fright appears.
What's going on here?
Great, Luzie can sleep with grandma.
It's a home game - isn't it?
It smells funny, grandma looks different in her nightgown and the lantern casts eerie shadows in the room.
How good that Grandma still remembers how she used to fall asleep with Luzie's mum.
Best time to read:
Before falling asleep, of course.
Recommended age:
from 3 years.