Love The Truth about Grandparents? Readers share 100 books like The Truth about Grandparents...

By Elina Ellis,

Here are 100 books that The Truth about Grandparents fans have personally recommended if you like The Truth about Grandparents. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of How to Babysit a Grandma

Lynda Pilon Author Of The Sleepover

From my list on funny stories about grandchildren and grandparents.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always loved being around children, first as a primary school teacher, then as a parent and now as a grandma. The love, laughter, humour, and fun that I share with my grandkids keep me young in mind, body, and soul. My story is about the wonderful adventures we have. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the world through the eyes of a child and I am enjoying every minute of it.

Lynda's book list on funny stories about grandchildren and grandparents

Lynda Pilon Why did Lynda love this book?

Jean Regan has written a beautiful, funny, heartwarming story about the love and fun that is shared between the different generations, a grandmother and a granddaughter. I love the way she has reversed the roles of her main characters. This approach will appeal to little ones who will definitely want to babysit their grandma while still enjoying all the wonderful activities that a visit to Grandma’s house entails. The illustrations are cute, detailed, and add to the storyline. This is a great little book for parents to read to their children before they visit and a good source of activity ideas for grandmas to have for their little guests once they arrive.

By Jean Reagan, Lee Wildish (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked How to Babysit a Grandma as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 5, 6, 7, and 8.

What is this book about?

Celebrate the special bond between grandmas and grandkids with this delightful New York Times bestseller that puts the kids in charge of babysitting...if just for one day. The perfect gift for Mother's Day, Grandparent's Day, and any day shared with Grandma!

When you babysit a grandma, if you're lucky, you'll have a sleepover at her house! And with the useful tips found in this book, you're guaranteed to become an expert grandma-sitter in no time. (Be sure to check out the sections on: How to keep a grandma busy; Things to do at the park; Possible places to sleep, and…


Book cover of My Grandparents Love Me

Lynda Pilon Author Of The Sleepover

From my list on funny stories about grandchildren and grandparents.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always loved being around children, first as a primary school teacher, then as a parent and now as a grandma. The love, laughter, humour, and fun that I share with my grandkids keep me young in mind, body, and soul. My story is about the wonderful adventures we have. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the world through the eyes of a child and I am enjoying every minute of it.

Lynda's book list on funny stories about grandchildren and grandparents

Lynda Pilon Why did Lynda love this book?

Claire Freedom uses animal characters to tell this story about the wonderful, loving relationships that exist between grandparents and a grandchild. I love the fact that it is never quite made clear whether the grandchild is a boy or a girl and as a result, the story applies to both. Children will quickly see themselves as the little zebra having fun and being spoiled rotten by two loving grandparents. The rhyming adds to the flow of the book.

By Claire Freedman, Judi Abbot (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked My Grandparents Love Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

I'm off to Gran and Grandpa's, There's a BIG smile on my face,
I always feel wrapped up in love, When I stay at their place!
Affectionate, funny, and joyful, this is the perfect book for little ones and their grandparents to share. My Grandparents Love Me brings together two huge stars of the picture book world, internationally successful illustrator Judi Abbot and award-winning author Claire Freedman.


Book cover of My Grandpa Is Great

Lynda Pilon Author Of The Sleepover

From my list on funny stories about grandchildren and grandparents.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always loved being around children, first as a primary school teacher, then as a parent and now as a grandma. The love, laughter, humour, and fun that I share with my grandkids keep me young in mind, body, and soul. My story is about the wonderful adventures we have. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the world through the eyes of a child and I am enjoying every minute of it.

Lynda's book list on funny stories about grandchildren and grandparents

Lynda Pilon Why did Lynda love this book?

I love the humour in this story. Grandpa definitely knows how to entertain and have fun with his grandson. This book shows how special bonds are formed between the young and the not-so-young. Age is not a barrier. The words and illustrations work extremely well together. In many instances, the picture gives the correct meaning to the written part which results in bringing a smile to your face. This book is a fun read.

By Gaby Goldsack,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked My Grandpa Is Great as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


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Book cover of One Giant Leap

One Giant Leap by Ben Gartner,

Editor's Pick, BookLife by Publishers Weekly.

Gold Medal, 2023 Mom's Choice Awards.

Gold Medal, 2023 Readers' Favorite Awards.

First Place, 2023 Gertrude Warner Middle Grade Awards.

I’m pretty sure I’m about to die in space. And I just turned twelve and a half.

Blast off with the four winners of…

Book cover of Grandmas From Mars

Lynda Pilon Author Of The Sleepover

From my list on funny stories about grandchildren and grandparents.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always loved being around children, first as a primary school teacher, then as a parent and now as a grandma. The love, laughter, humour, and fun that I share with my grandkids keep me young in mind, body, and soul. My story is about the wonderful adventures we have. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the world through the eyes of a child and I am enjoying every minute of it.

Lynda's book list on funny stories about grandchildren and grandparents

Lynda Pilon Why did Lynda love this book?

I love this crazy, silly book. The plot will captivate the children’s attention as there are so many twists and turns throughout the story. Are the grandmas really grandmas or are they aliens? How will they solve this mystery? The use of rhyme adds to the flow and humour of the tale. Illustrations are imaginative and off the wall funny. The ending is priceless. I think there definitely should be a sequel.

By Michelle Robinson, Fred Blunt (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Grandmas From Mars as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Fred and Nell's grandma is babysitting and the kids couldn't be happier. But hang on, there's something not quite right about her. In fact, she's acting very strangely indeed. And is that a spare eyeball? A tail? A striped tongue? That's NOT their grandma; it's an alien ... RUUUUUUN!

Find out how Fred and Nell overcome the invasion by grandmas from Mars (and get their own grandma back!) in this completely crazy and brilliantly bonkers, fun and irreverent picture book from the talented Michelle Robinson, with illustrations by rising star Fred Blunt.


Book cover of Great Granny Webster

Nancy Schoenberger Author Of Blanche: The Life and Times of Tennessee Williams's Greatest Creation

From my list on gothic tales of houses.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always loved novels and stories in which houses have a strong presence, beginning with Nathanial Hawthorne’s House of the Seven Gables, Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the Houses of Usher, and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. In tales like these, the family home — whether a birthright or an accidental place of abode — not only provides a shivery, Gothic atmosphere but also stands as a metaphor for the sicknesses that can sometimes fester in families -- paranoia, isolation, emotional incest. Belle Reve, Blanche, and Stella's decaying and sold-off ancestral home, hovers over “A Streetcar Named Desire.” My favorite house-themed books begin with two works by the incomparable Shirley Jackson.

Nancy's book list on gothic tales of houses

Nancy Schoenberger Why did Nancy love this book?

I read all of Blackwood’s novels and stories when researching my first biography, on the life of Caroline Blackwood. This is the one that stayed with me, Blackwood’s semi-autobiographical novella of Dunmartin Manor, housing three generations of Websters and Dunmartins. From the cold cruelty of the narrator’s great grandmother, to the fairy-like madness of her grandmother, and the tragedy of her fun-loving but suicidal Aunt Lavinia, all seem like extensions of the mansion—a decaying, grand old house, freezing in the winter, sweltering in the summer, and given to flooding. Like the house itself, the characters are trapped by the weight of their own Anglo-Irish, aristocratic history. No conflagration here, except for the cremation of Great Granny Webster.

By Caroline Blackwood,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Great Granny Webster as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A “shocking, brilliant, and wickedly funny” novel that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of eccentric aristocrats (Jonathan Raban, author of Bad Land)

Great Granny Webster is Caroline Blackwood’s masterpiece. Heiress to the Guinness fortune, Blackwood was celebrated as a great beauty and dazzling raconteur long before she made her name as a strikingly original writer. This macabre, mordantly funny, partly auto-biographical novel reveals the gothic craziness behind the scenes in the great houses of the aristocracy, as witnessed through the unsparing eyes of an orphaned teenage girl. Great Granny Webster herself is a fabulous monster, the chilliest of…


Book cover of And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

Louis V. Clark III Author Of How to Be an Indian in the 21st Century

From my list on understanding each other in a troubled world.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was born on the Oneida reservation in Wisconsin. Raised during the often troubled, often wonderful decade of the 1960s, I learned to stand up for what I thought was right. I joined forces with my beautiful wife during our high school years, and together, we ran away to build our own life aided by the Oneida principle of “looking ahead seven generations.” Encountering many obstacles along the way, including a poetry professor who said that what I wrote wasn’t poetry and a theater professor who said that if what I wrote was any good it was already being done. Still, I continue to write.

Louis' book list on understanding each other in a troubled world

Louis V. Clark III Why did Louis love this book?

This was just a wonderful, very well-written story that moved my emotions. It is a love story between an old man and his grandson. It is a story we all may live someday as the old man disappears day by day. So much so that we all slowly face our inevitable sundowns and leave the world, giving only love and memories to those we leave behind.

By Fredrik Backman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The tender and moving novella from the author of A Man Called Ove and Anxious People

'I read this beautifully imagined and moving novella in one sitting, utterly wowed, wanting to share it with everyone I know' Lisa Genova, New York Times bestselling author of Still Alice
_________

Grandpa and Noah are sitting on a bench in a square that keeps getting smaller every day.

As they wait together on the bench, they tell jokes and discuss their shared love of mathematics. Grandpa recalls what it was like to fall in love with his wife, what it was like to…


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Book cover of One Giant Leap

One Giant Leap by Ben Gartner,

I’m pretty sure I’m about to die in space. And I just turned twelve and a half.

Blast off with the four winners of the StellarKid Project on a trip to the International Space Station and then to the Gateway outpost orbiting the Moon! It’s a dream come true until…

Book cover of Goodnight Ganesha

Carolyn Watson Dubisch Author Of Andy and the Mask of the Dead

From my list on open your child's eyes to cultures around the world.

Why am I passionate about this?

I moved to New York City for school when I was 18 years old and found myself surrounded by people from all over the world. Every fourth person in New York City is an expat. It was fascinating to me and since then I have lived in three countries and done months-long artist residences in Morocco and Ireland. I also read books and stories about cultures from around the world and am particularly enchanted by Africa. Currently, I live on the Pacific coast of Mexico in the city of Mazatlán and have written two children’s books about Mexico. 

Carolyn's book list on open your child's eyes to cultures around the world

Carolyn Watson Dubisch Why did Carolyn love this book?

This book has truly beautiful art by Poonam Mistry. I find Indian and Hindu culture fascinating and this book brings it to you through the eyes of a child (or two children I should say as it’s about siblings). There is a glossary of Hindu terms in the back which I do appreciate. It is written almost as an Indian tribute to Goodnight Moon which is of course a classic.

By Nadia Salomon, Poonam Mistry (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Goodnight Ganesha as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 3, 4, 5, and 6.

What is this book about?

A gorgeously illustrated goodnight story that celebrates the nighttime rituals of two young children visiting their grandparents in India.

As nighttime falls over the city, two children visiting their grandparents in India find there's so much fun to be had! Whether it's listening to epic stories or observing rituals in the puja room, there are many moments that make this time together special.

In this beautiful, rhyming ode to bedtime, the only thing more universal than getting ready for bed and saying goodnight is the love between children and their grandparents.

"Nadia Salomon’s Goodnight Ganesha reminds readers that saying goodnight…


Book cover of The Mirror

Tamara Weed Author Of Time Lifted

From my list on where the author hits a home run with sci-fi.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a huge fan of books where time is a factor. Time intrigues me, as does a good science fiction or science fiction fantasy book. I have a crazy imagination that looks at an object or event and sees it as a possibility for a sci-fi character or time travel event. I write and read to escape from the every day to new worlds where the possibilities are endless. I’m a development coordinator for a multi-family housing development company, a mom, a grandma, a caretaker of an elderly parent, and I write whenever possible. I grew up in Michigan, moved to NM for about 30 years, and now reside in NC.  

Tamara's book list on where the author hits a home run with sci-fi

Tamara Weed Why did Tamara love this book?

An antique Chinese mirror transforms the lives’ of two women. Shay Garrett lives in the modern times and her grandmother lives in 1900. On the eve of their marriages, both women find themselves transported from one era to the other. I love this epic time-travel tale of suspense where one young woman contends with love, and identity, and knowing too much in a society far removed from the loud, freer modern times she grew up in, and another young woman deals with the confusion of a raucous world where decorum doesn’t exist, nothing makes sense, and her granddaughter's handsome fiancé is someone she hasn’t got the strength to resist.  

By Marlys Millhiser,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Mirror as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this twisting time-travel thriller, a woman faints on the eve of her wedding-and awakens at the turn of the century in her grandmother's body . . .

The night before she is supposed to get married, Shay Garrett has no idea that a glimpse into her grandmother's antique Chinese mirror will completely transform her seemingly ordinary life. But after a bizarre blackout, she wakes up to find herself in the same house-but in the year 1900. Even stranger, she realizes she is now living in the body of her grandmother, Brandy McCabe, as a young woman. Meanwhile, Brandy, having…


Book cover of The Girl from Foreign

Zilka Joseph Author Of Sweet Malida: Memories of a Bene Israel Woman

From my list on the Jewish immigrant experience and Bene Israel culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was born in Mumbai, lived in Kolkata for most of my life, and am an educator and poet who lives in the US. I am a Bene Israel Jew from India. As a child, I was fascinated by all kinds of literature, mythology, folktales, and stories. I have been influenced by everything around me. My passion for literature probably inspired me to become a teacher and later a writer who is constantly exploring, creating, re-imagining, and evolving. My books are about the immigrant experience, displacement, racism, women’s issues, nature, the animal kingdom, to name a few. But within these themes, I also explore identity and belonging, death, loss and recovery. 

Zilka's book list on the Jewish immigrant experience and Bene Israel culture

Zilka Joseph Why did Zilka love this book?

Sadia Shepard is the child of a white Protestant father from Colorado and a Muslim mother from Pakistan, who grew up outside Boston. In her visionary and moving memoir, she embarks on a search for her Bene Israel roots when her maternal grandmother, who she thought was a Muslim from Pakistan like everyone else in their family, tells her that her real name is Rachel Jacobs.

She hears about the Bene Israel community and reads about their origins. It's a fascinating account of a cross-cultural childhood, a journey to India to explore her grandmother’s family tree, discovering the secrets of her grandparents’ marriage, encountering the complicated history of India and Pakistan and the Partition, and at the same time, making sense of her complex influences and legacy. The author undertakes journeys on several levels that delve into her family history, her ancestors, her grandmother’s story, and her own identity.

What…

By Sadia Shepard,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Girl from Foreign as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A search for shipwrecked ancestors, forgotten histories, and a sense of home

Fascinating and intimate , The Girl from Foreign is one woman's search for ancient family secrets that leads to an adventure in far-off lands. Sadia Shepard, the daughter of a white Protestant from Colorado and a Muslim from Pakistan, was shocked to discover that her grandmother was a descendant of the Bene Israel, a tiny Jewish community shipwrecked in India two thousand years ago. After traveling to India to put the pieces of her family's past together, her quest for identity unlocks a myriad of profound religious and…


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Book cover of Wand

Wand by Landra Jennings,

Eleven-year-old Mira wishes everything could go back to the way it was. Before she changed schools and had to quit gymnastics. Especially before Papa died. Now she spends her days cooking and cleaning for her stepsisters and Val—who she still won’t call mom and still won’t forgive for the terrible…

Book cover of The Inheritance of Loss

Norrin M. Ripsman Author Of The Oracle of Spring Garden Road

From my list on novels that nail the endings.

Why am I passionate about this?

Too often, I find that novelists force the endings of their books in ways that aren’t true to their characters, the stories, or their settings. Often, they do so to provide the Hollywood ending that many readers crave. That always leaves me cold. I love novels whose characters are complex, human, and believable and interact with their setting and the story in ways that do not stretch credulity. This is how I try to approach my own writing and was foremost in my mind as I set out to write my own book.

Norrin's book list on novels that nail the endings

Norrin M. Ripsman Why did Norrin love this book?

There’s so much to love in this book. Desai’s characters come to life, as does Kalimpong's setting on the Himalayan foothills. You can feel the frustrations and humiliations of Sai, her grandfather, their cook, and his son Biju in New York City as the cruelty and callousness of life crush them.

As the book lurched toward its painful conclusion, I desperately warned the characters to avoid a catastrophe, but alas, to no avail. This is one of the best books I have ever read.

By Kiran Desai,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Inheritance of Loss as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Inheritance of Loss is Kiran Desai's extraordinary Man Booker Prize winning novel.

High in the Himalayas sits a dilapidated mansion, home to three people, each dreaming of another time.

The judge, broken by a world too messy for justice, is haunted by his past. His orphan granddaughter has fallen in love with her handsome tutor, despite their different backgrounds and ideals. The cook's heart is with his son, who is working in a New York restaurant, mingling with an underclass from all over the globe as he seeks somewhere to call home.

Around the house swirl the forces of…


Book cover of How to Babysit a Grandma
Book cover of My Grandparents Love Me
Book cover of My Grandpa Is Great

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