Adventures with Grandpa by Rosemary Mastnak

Hardie Grant Egmont, 2010. ISBN 9781921690761.
Picture book. Recommended. A companion volume to Cooking with Grandma and Dancing with Grandma, this time we see a little boy having some wonderful adventures with Grandpa, who has the most amazing shed full of wonderful bits and pieces. The little boy is never sure of what Grandpa will find in his 'magic cave'. It could be making a racing car, playing in the tree house or swinging from a tire tied to an old tree. What a great time the little boy and his dog and chook companions have with Grandpa!
Watercolour is used lavishly, making the delightfully plump little boy in his superman cape and his grandfather in checked shirt and overalls, come alive for the reader. There is just so much detail in the drawings, particularly in Grandpa's shed, that little people will have an interesting time poring over the contents and comparing it with their own sheds at home. It's little details like Grandpa fondling the ears of the dog and the chook making an appearance on each page that will enchant readers.
This is an ideal book for grandparents to have on their shelves, ready to read to grandsons when they visit. It would also be a delightful addition to a unit on the family. With its irregular rhyming story, sometimes with internal rhymes and sometimes with sentence endings rhyming, this would make a good read aloud as well.
Pat Pledger