Mary Lou Carney

Cameron is very excited to receive a birthday gift from his grandmother. She always gives him the best gifts, but this time he is deeply disappointed. Inside the box is a handknit sweater striped with green, blue, orange, and yellow. Cameron is mortified and vows to never ever wear it, especially in front of his friends. He tries a series of tricks to get rid of the sweater, but doesn’t succeed.

His mother says, “Grandma Susan would have been heartbroken if anything happened to this sweater.” Finally, Cameron begins to think about his grandmother’s feelings, but not enough to wearthe sweater. When grandma comes to visit, Cameron’s mother insists that he put on the sweater.

Grandma explains the significance of each color. Green represents Cameron’s excellent soccer skills, blue represents his success at learning to ride a two wheeled bike, orange represents his favorite fruit, yellow represents how happy his birth made the family, and red represents how he is always in his grandmother’s heart. Cameron’s attitude toward the sweater changes. He vows to wear it for a very long time.

Every child has received a gift that was disappointing. This book will remind them that the thought behind the gift is more important than the present itself. It also stresses the special link between grandmothers and their grandchildren and how different generations show their love in different ways. The story will encourage living life with a sense of gratitude, one of the most important keys to happiness.

Vincent Nguyen uses branch double spread pictures to illustrate the story. That this is a happy, loving family is apparent from the expressions of the characters.… (mehr)

This is one of the best books I have ever read to be sure. I am a writer-hence a highlighting and marker up of books and this one I couldn't stop starring paragraphs and excerpts and folding over pages for important points. This book is for teens but I highly recommend it for adults as well. I read this book from start to finish and got the best advice ever! It definitely helped me to increase my ability to think positively as well. I can also pass this book on to my daughters when I am done with it and they will get the same great tips and advice and hopefully use it to the best of their ability as I am doing! I highly recommend this book to teens and adults, young and old, we all will benefit. I am definitely going to read this book again!… (mehr)