Floella Benjamin

Alvina loves her two grandmothers more than anything. Granny Vero is from Trinidad and tells Alvina about her childhood in the sun. Together, she and Alvina dance along to Calypso music. Granny Rose is from Yorkshire and has stories about riding donkeys on the English coast. When she plays brass-band music for Alvina, they dance, too. When Alvina’s parents decide to go on vacation, Granny Vero and Granny Rose both want to take care of Alvina, who settles the situation by suggesting they all stay at her house. The visit looks to become something of a battle royal as each granny tries to take over, but some clever negotiating on Alvina’s part and cooperation from the grannies saves the day. After all, despite their differences, they have a lot in common—each loves her granddaughter very much. Alvina is a spunky, biracial heroine whom readers will enjoy and appreciate. Chamberlain’s bright, childlike illustrations capture all three worlds and add a gently humorous touch. (Picture book. 3-6)

-Kirkus Review… (mehr)

My Two Grannies is a children’s fiction book written by Floella Benjamin and illustrated by Margaret Chamberlain. It was first published in Great Britain in 2007 by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books. This book tells the story of Alvina and her two grannies -one is from Trinidad and the other is from Yorkshire, England. When her parents go on vacation, both her grannies fight over which of them will take care of Alvina until she suggests they both watch her. It would be most suitable for 1st-3rd grade. The message in this book is about the importance of learning about different cultures. During this time, the grandmothers learn to share their differences with each other and Alvina is able to learn about both cultures. I liked this book because of the realistic characters that offer representation for biracial kids. People do not always get along and may have so much pride in their culture that it is hard to be accepting of other cultures as we see in how the two grandmother’s fight. I also liked how Alvina taught her grandmothers to compromise after they were fighting over which activities to do because they were then able to all learn about the two cultures! She told them to take turns and was trying to keep the peace. I loved how she made the time to learn about both cultures and appreciated both sides of her cultural background. Students would be able to learn from this book and it would be a wonderful book to use for a discussion about different cultures or even about family dynamics.… (mehr)