Coming Soon: Brick By Brick, Pitch By Pitch (Holiday House, NY)
Grandparent’s Day
Annick Press
An irresistible story about an unconventional grandmother.
Omi is one strange grandmother. She cuts her own hair and wears green rubber boots held together with duct tape. Stranger still, she lives on a sailboat instead of in a house and has collected bugs from every continent.
Mom doesn’t understand that while it’s fun playing games with Omi at home, it’s asking a lot to take her to Grandparents’ Day at school.
It’s Omi’s turn to do a presentation, and it’s a sure bet she’s going to do something embarrassing. But hold on a moment. Everyone has fallen silent as she speaks. She’s showing them her snake bite and the kids are shrieking with excitement. Now they’re asking questions. Omi is a hit!
Grandparents’ Day is an enchanting story about a weird individual who shows that some people should never change. The irrepressible energy of the story is matched by lively and spirited artwork.
Nikki says:
When my Omi was eight, her father decided to leave his native Germany and start a new life in Brazil. Because Omi was strong and a hard worker, she was the one who helped her father cut down trees and build a house in the middle of the jungle. During her time in Brazil my grandmother had many adventures and I loved hearing her tell her amazing stories when she would come to visit. But the best story by far was the one about the snakebite. With a wonderful sense of drama, Omi would pull back her trouser leg and reveal the most magnificent scar—the result of a snakebite.
Omi’s sense of adventure and love of travel infected her children and grandchildren. At sixteen, my youngest brother signed on as the only crew member on a sailboat headed across the Atlantic, Omi’s children scattered to the four corners of the globe, and I suffer from perpetual wanderlust. When I took my daughter to Japan a few years ago, we headed for the Tateyama mountains where we went hiking and camping. Somehow, we managed to get lost, and I wish we had had Omi’s compass to guide us back to civilization!
All of these family adventures, spanning decades and continents, influenced and inspired Grandparents’ Day. And, of course, Omi’s sense of adventure and her willingness to travel, learn, and embrace new experiences throughout her lifetime has had a tremendous impact on the way I live my own life.
Reviews
The upbeat energy of the story is matched by lively and spirited artwork sure to delight and amuse. (Jackie Hallacy Charlotte Parent 2004/12)
Eye-catching and colorful… a great read-aloud. (Susan Miller Resource Links)
A lesson about acceptance, love and living life to its fullest. Laverdiere’s whimsical illustrations bring Omi to brilliant life. (Elizabeth Shaffer BC Parent)
Nikki Tate - Author 
What a perfectly wonderful story.
LikeLike