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Before She Was My Grandmother
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From celebrated illustrator Giselle Potter, a beautiful and memorable story about the special bond between a grandparent and a grandchild.
Whenever I visit my grandmother Alice, we love sitting together and telling each other stories. My favorite part is when she takes out her box of special things and we pass them back and forth. Each object—a doll, a sketchbook, shells and stones, and more—is a clue to a bigger story: the story of her life before she was my grandmother.
Before she was my grandmother, she too was a young girl, with a life very different from my own. Little by little, the stories she tells and the objects she shares from her memory box reveal the many facets of her life, along with her great spirit, with its many colors and tones.
Written and illustrated by the award-winning picture book maker Giselle Potter, Before She Was My Grandmother celebrates strong and loving family connections, as well as the little moments and mementos of childhood that we carry with us all our lives—and pass on to the next generation. It’s also a touching reminder of how every life is so much richer and more multifaceted than any single identity or role.
Whenever I visit my grandmother Alice, we love sitting together and telling each other stories. My favorite part is when she takes out her box of special things and we pass them back and forth. Each object—a doll, a sketchbook, shells and stones, and more—is a clue to a bigger story: the story of her life before she was my grandmother.
Before she was my grandmother, she too was a young girl, with a life very different from my own. Little by little, the stories she tells and the objects she shares from her memory box reveal the many facets of her life, along with her great spirit, with its many colors and tones.
Written and illustrated by the award-winning picture book maker Giselle Potter, Before She Was My Grandmother celebrates strong and loving family connections, as well as the little moments and mementos of childhood that we carry with us all our lives—and pass on to the next generation. It’s also a touching reminder of how every life is so much richer and more multifaceted than any single identity or role.
Extent: 52 pp
Format: Hardback
Illustrations: Full-color illustrations throughout
Publication date: 2025-10-16
Size: 29.2 x 25.4 cm
ISBN: 9781592704316
Praise for Before She Was My Grandmother
A Children’s Book Council Hot Off the Press selection, August 2025! "Written and illustrated with characteristic sublimity by Giselle Potter. Here is a tender account of a child’s connection with a grandparent, which also tells of the older woman’s life before the girl was born... Buoyant and appealing."
The Wall Street Journal
The young narrator of this intimate-feeling picture book cherishes time with her attentive grandmother, Alice—especially when the woman brings out a box of treasured mementos... The creator’s aesthetic seems to flow directly from Alice’s own hand, and themes of creativity, mindfulness, and persistence thread through this thoughtful work about how 'everyone has a story that is much bigger than the part you can see.'
Publishers Weekly
Potter's lush watercolor illustrations showcase the natural beauty surrounding Alice in her youth, from her beloved garden to the serene Swiss hospital, with occasional glimpses into her imagination, where deer antlers grow taller than trees and her walnut owl sails the world in a seashell boat... For young readers, the story is a gentle encouragement to listen when beloved elders share tales of their upbringing, but there's equal depth present for adults... Subtle, heartwarming.
The Horn Book
The book is about what it means to understand other people's complexities and how one can pass on a family history to the next generation... The abiding lesson is that every life is more than you can see.
A Fuse #8 Production (A School Library Journal blog)
About the Author
Giselle Potter is the award-winning illustrator of over 30 books for children, some written by herself and others by such authors as Toni Morrison, Mary Pope Osborne, Ursula Hegi, Mathea Harvey, and Gertrude Stein. She also illustrated a column for The New York Times called “Ties.” She lives with her husband and two daughters in the Hudson Valley.
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