Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Alfie and Grandma
Picture Book Series
For ages 5 to 7
Random House UK, 2015 ISBN: 978-1782955153
Alfie and his grandmother are best friends and they have wonderful times together. Often Alfie and his little sister, Annie Rose, stay with Grandma for a while, sharing the joys of her countryside world with her and her two cats.
One day, when Alfie and Annie Rose are staying with Grandma, they go to visit Grandma’s neighbor, Lorna. Lorna and her husband have two pet tortoises that they are very fond of and the children love to visit and feed the slow moving animals. When they get to Lorna’s house they find out that one of the tortoises, Winnie, is missing. The children and Grandma help Lorna look for Winnie, but the tortoise is nowhere to be found.
After supper, and before bedtime, Grandma, Alfie, and Annie Rose in her pushchair, go out to search for Winnie again, which is when Alfie notices something strange about the decorative rocks that lead up to Mrs. Hall’s cottage. All the rocks are white except one. When he goes to investigate, Alfie realizes that the brown, odd-one-out rock is not a rock at all. It is Winnie.
In all there are three stories about Alfie and Grandma’s adventures that can be found in this book. In addition to finding a missing tortoise, Alfie, Annie Rose and Grandma go on an expedition, and they find a lost sheep. At the back of the book readers will find a lovely map showing Grandma’s world. Children will see where Grandma’s house is, where Winnie the tortoise lives, and where Alfie and Grandma found the lost sheep.
For decades Shirley Hughes has been charming children will her lovely illustrations and her beautifully crafted stories. It is wonderful that her books are still in print and that Alfie, Annie Rose, Grandma and the other characters still charm children and their grownups.
