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The Children's Bookshelf: Grandma's Hair is Ankle Length - May 5, 2024

Grandma’s Hair Is Ankle Length written by Adriana Camacho-Church and illustrated by Carmen Lop is a bright, beautiful, bilingual picture book written in both English and Spanish.

The story starts with a double-page look at Grandma combing her long white and gray hair while her little granddaughter looks on with a beautiful fascination on her face. As the story continues the illustrations become more and more full of green grass, cactus, ducks, dogs, fish, owls, roses, dragonflies, streams, and the moon. Grandmother’s hair is indeed beautiful. “When let loose, it falls over her shoulders like a towering waterfall tumbling down a mountaintop.”

Courage, wisdom, and hope all play a part in this lovely story. When the young girl asks if her hair will ever have stories to tell her grandmother says “It already does. It holds the whispers of your ancestors.”

Grandma’s Hair Is Ankle Length written by Adriana Camacho-Church and illustrated by Carmen Lop is an amazing bilingual picture book for children 4-8 years of age who are learning either English or Spanish. This book gracefully puts forth the beauty of storytelling both by words and pictures. (Pinata Books/Arte Publico Press/ University of Houston) 2024.

The Children’s Bookshelf is a production of WCMU. Links to the podcast and the Activity Questions can be found at Children’s Bookshelf dot org.

Activity Questions for Grandma’s Hair Is Ankle Length

For Young Readers: Study the second illustration in this book and find the following: a duck, a fish, an owl, a parrot, a black bird, a dog, a cactus, a beetle, a mushroom, and an earring. Look carefully.

For Older Readers: Study the interesting illustration of the little girl on her grandmother’s lap. What are they doing? Can you also see the little girl on the move in the very same illustration? Where do you think she is going? Give this illustration a name. Let your imagination speak!

 

Sue Ann Martin is professor emerita of Communication and Dramatic Arts and the founding and past Dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts at Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. She first became interested in children’s literature when she wrote her PhD thesis on the oral characteristics of the Caldecott Award-winning children’s books. Her PhD is in Speech and Interpretation with a cognate in Early Childhood Education. She went on to review children’s books for the Detroit Free Press, write three popular resource books for teachers regarding children’s books and the creative process. She also reviewed newly-published books for Arts Almanac specials on WCMU Public Radio. Her 2002 children’s books special for WCMU won a Merit Award in Special Interest Programming from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.