Overall, I like this book and I think it fills a large gap in children's literature. However, I'm not sure how I feel about the end of the book: the child hugging and kissing her grandmother, and calling her "grandma", all things she's been explicitly told not to do, while her grandmother is sleeping and can't give or deny consent. I understand the context, but feel it could give kids a mixed message about the important concept of consent. ( )

I thought it was very interesting to read this book where we are introduced to a great- grandmother who is quite glamorous and loves nice things yet is very stern and not so affectionate with her granddaughter. Oftentimes, I think most of us hear the word grandmother and automatically assume sweet, affection woman who is happy all the time when this just might not be the case. I really intrigued by this story and how open and realistic this situation is. This brings to light difficult issues African Americans have faced because of their skin color. It seems the great-grandmother has a sense of bitterness behind her attitude but now we know why. It can be so difficult to be loving and comfortable in a world that constantly is going against you. I felt sad for the entire situation and the heartbreak. I wish the young girl had received the love and affection she was asking for, kids need love.

Nominally a story about a little girl observing her grandmother, there is a lot of attention paid to things the little girl finds peculiar, or even scary. These things are relatable to all young children, I think, but things resonate a bit different when you apply the lens of an African American family. When you learn that Great Grandma Nell is 96 years old, the adult reader realizes that not only means Nell lived through the struggle for civil rights, but that she grew up under Jim Crow, with no rights. This lends a different tone to her dourness and her insistence on propriety, and a sadder tone when she speaks of having her heart broken. Whereas one would expect some amount of heartbreak in a life that spanned almost a hundred years, Nell's first heartbreak is being told by her best friend that they couldn't be friends because Nell was black. Following that scene is a powerful collage, partially made of illustrations and partially photographs, that seems to encompass all of Nell's life, from Jim Crow to the present. A powerful book that is still relatable to all children. ( )

This book really made me think of my own grandmother in a way with the grandmother being stern yet glamorous. The grandmother in the story discusses how she had her heart broken by friends simply for her skin color. ( )

Title: Don’t Call Me Grandma
- Author: Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
- Illustrator: Elizabeth Zunon
- Publisher: Carolhoda Books
- Date: February 1, 206 (date published)
- Pages: 39
- Type of Book/Genre: Picture book, Realistic Fiction
- Short Summary of the Main Plot: The story begins with a child, and their Great Grandmother Nell, who is scary. G.G. Nell does not like to be called Grandma. G.G. Nell does weird things like eating fish for breakfast and poses like someone in the movies on the beach, and gets upset when her granddaughter does it too. G.G. Nell drinks something that tastes awful with a picture of a spider on it, she drinks it for her broken heart. When her grand daughter attempts to comfort her, she turns away. G.G. Nell has a beautiful room that she doesn’t usually allow her grand daughter into, and she has a ballerina doll in the middle of her bed. She also has a big vanity, but she growls at her reflection and her grand daughter through it. G.G. Nell is glamorous and stern, she gives her grand daughter some lipstick, and teachers her the tissue trick with it. G.G. Nell is 96, and she has an impeccable memory, she tells her grand daughter about the first time her heart was broken, when she and her friend couldn’t be friends anymore because of her skin color. In that moment, she lets her grand daughter touch her hand. On the following page there are some historical Civil Rights photos and paintings. While G.G. Nell is sleeping, her grand daughter sneaks in to give her a kiss, and says that she likes her scary, then the story ends.
- Tags/Subject Headings that Describe the Content: Grandmothers, stern, scary, painful memories, glamours, love.
- My response: I really enjoyed this story line and the illustrations, it made me think of my great grandmother, she was somewhat similar.