My Hippie Grandmother

My Hippie Grandmother
Written by: Reeve Lindbergh
Illustrated by: Abby Carter
Candlewick Press, 2003
16 pages
Poetry

This book is about a joyous little girl who is telling about her grandmother through poetry.  She tells all about what they do in one day.  From working in the garden to eating wheat-and-honey bread to picketing city hall.  In this book the little girl portrays how much she loves spending time with her hippie grandmother. Find out more about their story by reading My Hippie Grandmother! Flower power forever!
            Abby Carter used a mixture on watercolor and gouache to create the illustrations in this book.  Carter said that by illustrating this book it reminded her a lot of her childhood because her mother was also a hippie. She captures the true hippie theme from grandmother’s stringy long hair to the outrageous clothing the grandmother wears.  Each picture adds more emphases to the texts meanings.
            I would use this book to show students that not all older people are same. I would have the students use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast their own grandparents to the little girls Hippie grandmother.  Then I would also have the students write a paragraph about how they want to be when they get older.  Next I would have my students create their own pictures of older people and how they see them in comparison to the story.