Eighteen Flowers for Grandma

July 1, 2024

K-Gr 2-Sadie is determined to make a gift that is as sweet, creative, and filled with life as her grandmother is. Over their treasured weekly get-together to make art, Grandma explains how the Hebrew letters that spell chai add up to 18, a lucky number. Inspired, Sadie will make 18 of something to celebrate her grandmother's upcoming graduation from college. But what? A flower arrangement that Grandma admires at a cousin's wedding finally gives Sadie an idea that is "Grandma enough": a bouquet of 18 individual flowers crafted from all of her art supplies. The relationship between Sadie and her grandmother is warmly depicted as Grandma dispenses wisdom and gives Sadie her full attention. Sadie's efforts at gift-making are pretty creative, so it may be hard to understand her dissatisfaction with her first attempts, or why her ultimate gift is so much better. The gentle, rounded illustrations employ gray with a muted palette of pastel colors, sometimes with overhead perspectives or flurries of art supplies. VERDICT An exceedingly quiet picture book that lightly touches on Jewish traditions and will fill a need for stories of perseverance.-Jan Aldrich Solow

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2024
A child seeks the perfect gift for her grandmother's upcoming college graduation. To mark Sadie's kindergarten graduation, Grandma gave her a necklace with the Hebrew word for life, transliterated as chai. Grandma explains that chai is represented by the number 18, which is considered lucky. Sadie hopes to repay the favor by giving Grandma a bouquet of 18 flowers for her own graduation. It's the perfect gift: The two of them enjoy making art together, and Grandma especially loves creating flowers. So Sadie tries out different methods to construct her bouquet--pressing dandelions, creating flowers using cardboard and crayon--but nothing feels right. After Grandma explains why she loves flowers so much (quoting Marc Chagall, she says, "They're life itself, in all its happy brilliance"), Sadie finds inspiration and makes the perfect bouquet. Jewish culture, specifically Ashkenazi traditions such as dancing the hora to klezmer music, imbues this straightforward story with depth. Inspired by Jewish paper-cutting folk art, White's illustrations are soft and cozy, dominated by mossy green and beige. Swoops and strokes of color make the story feel intimate, almost like an art project itself. Grandma has white hair and pale skin, Sadie has black hair and light brown skin, and supporting characters have a variety of skin tones and hair textures. A gentle tale of intergenerational bonding that will appeal to budding artists. (glossary, Hebrew alphabet guide, author's note, photograph) (Picture book. 4-7)

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