Ruowen Wang, illustrated by Hechen Yu,
Grandpa Joe
Kevin & Robin Books, 2008.

Rating: G-A*

In this heartfelt tale about growing up, a young boy, unable to speak, befriends his next-door neighbor, Grandpa Joe. Old Grandpa Joe is very eccentric and many of the other people in the neighborhood make fun of his strange ways. Then one day he breaks his leg and goes to the hospital. It looks like he won’t return to his house, and no one feels his loss more than our young narrator. Then, when he suddenly does return, the boy is so thrilled he speaks his first words: "Grandpa Joe."

The boy’s love of Grandpa Joe results in his overcoming his inability to speak. However, some aspects of the narrative might be missed by young readers because they are slightly too subtle. One, for instance is the foreshadowing of how valuable Grandpa Joe’s house is to him.

That aside, this book is an excellent prompt for discussions on what it might feel like to be different or have a disability. Also the story would be a good tool to discuss immigrant groups. The boy is Chinese Canadian, and Grandpa Joe is an Italian-born widower. Grandpa Joe refers to the boy as "his Chinese neighbor’s little boy" because he could never remember the boy’s name. What do students think about this? Classroom discussions about this would be very rewarding.

Lovely charcoal and watercolor illustrations by Hechen Yu depict the emotion in this tale well, especially through expressive lines. This is, truly a story about emotions of relationships forged in one’s neighborhood.

Thematic Links: Disabilities; Immigrant Groups; Families; Neighbourhoods

Kallie George
Vol. 15, number 4
April 2010

*Rating System:
E - Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
A - Average, all right, has its applications.
P - Problematic, puzzling, poorly presented.