TITLE: Hey Grandude!
BY: Paul McCartney, illustrated by Kathryn Durst (Random House Books for Young Readers, Sept. 5) ages 4-6, 32 pages, ebook $10.99, audio download $5, library audio download $22, $17.99 hardcover.
STORY: There's a fun little story about a grandfather with four bored grandkids and a magical compass that takes them anywhere he wants to go, but the story here is the author. This Paul McCartney is that Paul McCartney, the one who is entitled to use the honorific Sir in Great Britain but is not doing so here. He wrote a children's book.
If you know your Beatles history, you will guess this is a cheery, upbeat story that celebrates home life and universally understood relationships, and it really is. If you're guessing the text has a musical lilt and diverse meters, you are correct there as well.
There are no terrible surprises. The children start out whiny and bored, are swept from big adventure to big adventure around the globe, and they wind up tucked into bed with their baths taken and teeth brushed — without any of the fuss that typically accompanies those accomplishments.
So really, this is a book for grandfathers, a story about everything they wish they could do for their dear little descendants.
Read to Me is a weekly review of short books.
Style on 10/14/2019