How to babysit a grandma by Jean Reagan

Ill. by Lee Wildish. Hachette Children's Books, 2014. ISBN 9781444918120.
(Age: 4-6) Picture book. Grandmothers. Babysitting. Family. If a child has any concerns going to stay overnight with Grandma, then this book will ensure they are all dissolved as the task is turned on its head with the child babysitting Grandma, showcasing a close and companionable relationship between the girl and her grandmother, as well as the parents as they leave the girl to look after the older woman.
The pair engages in a range of different activities including going to the park, feeding the ducks, cooking together, watching for the first evening star, using charades to tell the woman how much she is loved, then going to bed after making sure the front light is on.
Each activity is one which grandparents do with their grandchildren, but done the other way allows for some very funny lines as well as humorous illustrations in which the child is the leader.
A companion for the New York Times bestseller How to babysit a granddad, this one will also win hearts as the young girl allays all her fears of being away from her parents by helping her grandmother fill in her time with a basket of activities.
Children will easily recognise situations where they have a babysitter and involve themselves in the things the two do together, comparing them with what they do when staying with someone else, and look forward to doing them themselves. The close ties of the family are stressed all through with the child saying I love you to her grandmother several times, with the illustrations reflecting all the good things that make up a happy and close relationship.
Fran Knight