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

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.

zelfs oma's krijgen ruzie dan ook de hele wereld. is dat wel nodig? etc. discussie boek. ( )

het boek gaat over twee oma's. De een is Nederlands, de ander komt uit Aruba. Er wordt vertelt over het leven in Aruba van de oma en hoe het in Katwijk was.
Mooie plaatjes, goed lopend verhaal! ( )

Summary: My two grannies is about a little girl who has two grandmas that live two completely different life styles. Her parents go on vacation and both grandmas come to watch her. The little girl quickly realizes how different the grandmas are and how the grandmas do not get along because of it. The little girl then comes up with a plan to make them both get along and accept that there can be peace made even though they are different.

Personal Reaction: I really loved this book because it just shows how two people can be completely different. It really relates to my family because no one really has anything in common.

Classroom Extensions:

1. The teacher can send home a letter asking parents to make a list of what kind of different cultures their child has in them. Then children can compare to each other.

2. The teacher can ask the children to name two family members in their life that are completely different and ask them how they compromise so everyone can be happy.