My Nonna loves by Adelle Frittitta and Claudia Frittitta
Last Sunday in October has been deemed Grandparents Day.
Not universally acknowledged it nevertheless is a day for celebrations. Many books will come to mind and a short perusal of library shelves will reveal more. But Grandparents can be celebrated everyday, with books being published all the time recognising the significance of grandparents in a child’s life.
My Nonna loves evokes all the warmth of a loving Nonna who takes her grandchild on her many journeys through the day. She loves dressing up, then dancing around the room with Nonna; she loves feeding the chooks, collecting the eggs and helping when an egg is poached.
She loves shopping with her, going to the market, gathering the ingredients to use later in her kitchen, talking to the stall holder about the custard tarts she buys for when they get home. Nonna loves sauce day, where the whole family comes together to make passata, the grandchild helping fill the jars.
This lovingly told story of a woman who takes every day as it comes, will thrill younger children, seeing their own grandparents on each page. Nonna loves to gossip, spending a lot of time at night speaking to family in Italy. She loves Christmas, when all the family gets together, eating heartily, then opening presents and lounging contentedly under Nona’s spreading grape vine.
Nonna loves baking, and often offers her biscotti to others, passing some over the fence to her neighbours. And she loves her husband, Nonno. When it is time for the child to be taken home, Nonna zips up her parka, and they walk together, the child basking in Nona’s love.
Each page is filed with bright floral illustrations, provoking the readers to seek out the detail on each page, asking them to name the interesting features. They will recognise the role of a grandparent in their lives, and spy the things that grandparents do for their grandchildren.
The warmth and closeness of families sings on each page, underlining the days that are important to families, but also showing the important place that a grandparent has in the family, and how love binds all members of the family together. And they will learn few Italian words as they read.
Themes: Love, Family, Grandparents.
Fran Knight