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Full, Full, Full of Love
Warm, welcoming illustrations spice up this rhythmical ode to the joys of family and food -- full, full, full of pleasures for all.
For the youngest member of an exuberant extended family, Sunday dinner at Grannie’s can be full indeed -- full of hugs and kisses, full of tasty dishes, full to the brim with happy faces, and full, full, full of love. With a special focus on the bond between little Jay Jay and his grannie, Trish Cooke introduces us to a gregarious family we are sure to want more, more, more of.
For the youngest member of an exuberant extended family, Sunday dinner at Grannie’s can be full indeed -- full of hugs and kisses, full of tasty dishes, full to the brim with happy faces, and full, full, full of love. With a special focus on the bond between little Jay Jay and his grannie, Trish Cooke introduces us to a gregarious family we are sure to want more, more, more of.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2003
About the author
Trish Cooke
38 books18 followersTrish Cooke is a British playwright, actress, television presenter, scriptwriter and children's author who might be best known for being a presenter on the children's series Playdays. She also wrote under the pseudonym Roselia John Baptiste.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
September 8, 2018
What a heartwarming and just so very much loving little story! After reading Trish Cooke's Full, Full, Full of Love for the African American History month for the Picture Book Club of the Children's Literature Group, yes, I have ended up so very much feeling full of love myself (and like my GR friend Lisa, quite hungry and definitely more than ready for my supper). And yes, I especially enjoy and appreciate the fact that while this book is about a joyful and loving contemporary African American family, Full, Full, Full of Love could most definitely have been a story about ANY family, about any loving grandmother; it is truly universal (and really ethnicities neither matter nor are they also thankfully never in any way belaboured by Trish Cooke in and with her text). And furthermore, I also much appreciate and commend how the grandmother is in Full, Full, Full of Love able to distract young Jay Jay when he says that he is hungry, and that she will not simply allow him to snack between meals; she obviously knows that this will likely only spoil his appetite for the large family supper she is busy preparing. Grandma does not give in to Jay Jay's pleas about being hungry and wanting a snack, but she also does not simply say "no" but uses love and personal attention to distract her grandson until suppertime. Recommended for anyone, but especially recommended for grandmothers and grandfathers to share with their grandchildren.
February 1, 2011
I read this book for the Children's Books group’s Picture Book Club. It’s one of six books for February’s Picture Books Club, which has Black History Month as this month’s theme.
Aside from a tradition of close extended families in many families, and perhaps some of the food choices, this was a more generic book than I was expecting. This is a sweet story about a loving family, and race is incidental here. But that’s fine, and it was a refreshing choice.
It’s the story of a young hungry boy, waiting for a big family weekly dinner at his grandmother’s house. She cooks quite a spread, but he’s hungry before dinner is ready so she finds ways to distract him. The relationship is full of love between them, and there is seemingly a lot of love between all the family members, as befitting the book’s title. There is also some gentle humor that I really enjoyed.
It’s a great read aloud book, including for the youngest children, because of the repetition and the cadence and rhythm, and the simplicity of the story.
The food (even though most of it wasn’t vegan) made me quite hungry. All the illustrations were colorful and interesting and comforting.
Aside from a tradition of close extended families in many families, and perhaps some of the food choices, this was a more generic book than I was expecting. This is a sweet story about a loving family, and race is incidental here. But that’s fine, and it was a refreshing choice.
It’s the story of a young hungry boy, waiting for a big family weekly dinner at his grandmother’s house. She cooks quite a spread, but he’s hungry before dinner is ready so she finds ways to distract him. The relationship is full of love between them, and there is seemingly a lot of love between all the family members, as befitting the book’s title. There is also some gentle humor that I really enjoyed.
It’s a great read aloud book, including for the youngest children, because of the repetition and the cadence and rhythm, and the simplicity of the story.
The food (even though most of it wasn’t vegan) made me quite hungry. All the illustrations were colorful and interesting and comforting.
August 17, 2008
A wonderful book filled with family food and family love. "Plenty, plenty for everybody!" Just looking a the cover of this book makes me smile.
June 30, 2019
Jay Jay enjoys his extended family's weekly dinner at Grannie's in this heartfelt picture-book celebration of food, familial love, and the special bond between grandmother and grandson. Dropped off beforehand by his mother, he and Grannie keep themselves occupied - or rather, Grannie keeps him occupied, in the face of his constant questioning about dinner - until the rest of the family arrives, and the house is overflowing. A house full of relatives, a family full of good cooking, and hearts full of love - all are to be found at Grannie's!
Full, Full, Full of Love is a heart-warming tale of a boy and his grandmother, one which offers an engaging depiction of a close-knit extended family. Trish Cooke, a British actress and author - she was born in West Yorkshire, although her parents were from the island of Dominica - presents a narrative that reads well, while artist Paul Howard's pencil and acrylic illustrations are colorful and appealing, particularly his expressive faces! All in all, a book I would recommend to young readers who enjoy family stories, or to anyone looking for picture-books about the grandparent-grandchild bond.
Full, Full, Full of Love is a heart-warming tale of a boy and his grandmother, one which offers an engaging depiction of a close-knit extended family. Trish Cooke, a British actress and author - she was born in West Yorkshire, although her parents were from the island of Dominica - presents a narrative that reads well, while artist Paul Howard's pencil and acrylic illustrations are colorful and appealing, particularly his expressive faces! All in all, a book I would recommend to young readers who enjoy family stories, or to anyone looking for picture-books about the grandparent-grandchild bond.
August 16, 2012
This book is a nice family tale and celebration of the traditional 'Sunday Dinner' through the eyes of young Jay Jay. It tells of his love and interactions with his family- more specifically his Grandmother- who he affectionately calls "Gran". The title alone quite accurately conveys the warm ambience of the story, which is truly the highlighting of family gatherings as well as an insight into the typical African-American household and traditions. The story revolves around a young boy called Jay Jay who is anxiously waiting for his dinner, but he is repeatedly told by his 'Grannie' that it is not ready yet. By the end of the story we learn that the reason why is because (seemingly unbeknown to him) she is awaiting the arrival of the rest of the family.
As mentioned prior, the story has a very warming feel to it, which I enjoyed- and coming from a Caribbean family myself, the mentions of the various foods, brought back memories of my family's Sunday dinners. However I do not think the book was exciting enough, as I think Trish Cooke could have added some more 'surprise' elements to it. Nevertheless, she has lovely uses of rhyming, repetition and onomatopoeia which I believe is helpful to young readers.
I think the appropriate age range would be for children of the earlier years, i.e. 3-5 years old. I think its a book a 7-9 year old would enjoy also though I think that the use of rhyme, repetition and onomatopoeia would be a great tool to be used by teachers during carpet time for foundation levels. In addition it would be a great book for looking at topics such as cultures, family roles and different foods to teach and explore for young children.
As mentioned prior, the story has a very warming feel to it, which I enjoyed- and coming from a Caribbean family myself, the mentions of the various foods, brought back memories of my family's Sunday dinners. However I do not think the book was exciting enough, as I think Trish Cooke could have added some more 'surprise' elements to it. Nevertheless, she has lovely uses of rhyming, repetition and onomatopoeia which I believe is helpful to young readers.
I think the appropriate age range would be for children of the earlier years, i.e. 3-5 years old. I think its a book a 7-9 year old would enjoy also though I think that the use of rhyme, repetition and onomatopoeia would be a great tool to be used by teachers during carpet time for foundation levels. In addition it would be a great book for looking at topics such as cultures, family roles and different foods to teach and explore for young children.
February 3, 2011
One of this month's Children's Picture Book Club reads found here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/4...
My 19 mo old daughter and I read Full, Full, Full of Love. It is a great read out loud book. We read it while we were waiting to go to my mom’s house for dinner. By the end of the book, we were both ready to eat!
The illustrations were colorful and appealing. I enjoyed seeing the close knit family. It reminded me of my mother’s house and how we all gather there for meals and family time often.
I was a little distracted by Jay Jay being hungry and his grandmother making him wait for what seemed a very long time. All I could think about was giving him a snack, just a little something to hold him.
My 19 mo old daughter and I read Full, Full, Full of Love. It is a great read out loud book. We read it while we were waiting to go to my mom’s house for dinner. By the end of the book, we were both ready to eat!
The illustrations were colorful and appealing. I enjoyed seeing the close knit family. It reminded me of my mother’s house and how we all gather there for meals and family time often.
I was a little distracted by Jay Jay being hungry and his grandmother making him wait for what seemed a very long time. All I could think about was giving him a snack, just a little something to hold him.
February 15, 2019
This book is adorable, with super cute photos and great language. My only beef is the notion that any woman would have time to relax with a toddler while preparing an enormous family meal. But this is a great read aloud that shows an intimate black family experience in such a loving way.
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October 27, 2017Full, Full, Full of Love by Trish Cooke is a fictional book about the joys of being around family. The love and happiness you feel just being in their presents and eating good home cooked meals prepared by grandma. This story focuses on a young boy who spends some time with family just soaking up all the love. The book is very well written with this this smooth rhythmic tone. Illustrated with the most vibrant colors by Paul Howard. Boys are always depicted with no emotion but this book shows that its okay to be loving and love on those you care about.
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February 17, 2019Made me miss my family
January 30, 2011
This is a wonderful tale about Sunday dinner at Grannie's house. The food cooking, the anticipation, and best of all, the hugs and cuddles with Grannie. The illustrations are warm and show the love and closeness between family members - so terrific! I love books that show grandchildren and grandparents together, something our girls have always known. After reading this story, we talked about the joys of having a big family dinner. While our household includes 5 (two parents, two children, and a grandmother) and we have an extended family meal together almost every night, we love to go home and share an even bigger family meal with all of the aunts and uncles, cousins and siblings.
This book was featured as one of the selections for the February 2011 - Black History Month themed reads for the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
This book was featured as one of the selections for the February 2011 - Black History Month themed reads for the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
October 10, 2015
Full, Full, Full of Love is about a boy named Jay Jay who lives in an extended family with his grandmother. One Sunday night Jay Jay helps his grandma prepare dinner while his mother is out. The story hits home with all children who can relate to family ties. The plot revolves around Jay Jay, who is impatiently waiting for dinner time, and his grandmother, who does her best to distract his attention while they prepare the meal. The language is poetic and most lines use rhyming words to hold readers' attention. I particularly enjoyed the illustrations because they accurately convey a warm feeling of having dinner with your whole family. The images of grandma in her cozy armchair as well as the delicious meal she prepared for her guests are striking. The cultural group represented in this text is an African-American family and the author is an insider of this group as well. However, the characters are not stereotyped in any way and are instead portrayed as a warm, loving extended family.
"There were buttery peas,
chicken and yams,
macaroni and cheese,
potatoes and ham"
"There were buttery peas,
chicken and yams,
macaroni and cheese,
potatoes and ham"
May 6, 2024
Whether Thanksgiving or Sunday dinner, many of us had/has a grandmother who loves to cook & bring the family together over a good meal. Reading this with Zahara felt like a trip down memory lane. Like looking at my family on the pages. Back when my family would gather around food at my grandma “Momma’s” house.
This is representation at its finest. For Jay Jay, Sunday dinner at Grannie’s house is always full—full of hugs & kisses, full of tasty dishes…full, full, full of love. The illustrations are amazing & so lifelike, making the story that much more relatable. Zahara’s favorite part is when the family finally gathers at the table and Jay Jay names all the food that Grannie made! Think Big Mama on Soul Food. With a special focus on the bond between little Jay Jay and his grannie, this is a book about family, tradition, a grandmother’s love, & the way food brings us together. Highly, highly recommend!
This is representation at its finest. For Jay Jay, Sunday dinner at Grannie’s house is always full—full of hugs & kisses, full of tasty dishes…full, full, full of love. The illustrations are amazing & so lifelike, making the story that much more relatable. Zahara’s favorite part is when the family finally gathers at the table and Jay Jay names all the food that Grannie made! Think Big Mama on Soul Food. With a special focus on the bond between little Jay Jay and his grannie, this is a book about family, tradition, a grandmother’s love, & the way food brings us together. Highly, highly recommend!
April 4, 2019
This is a good book to display African American families and their traditions. It describes how an ordinary African American Family celebrates and enjoy Sunday dinners. It shows the love of family, and how they can celebrate through the enjoyment of soul food, family and friends. It is a realistic fiction book. It's also a great read for any culture or family. They share the love of food, stories and love with those who are close to them. How all of this is centered around the matriarch of the family, grandma. The illustrations in this book were great. This book can be used to show and to express how most African American families celebrate and enjoy their families. It's a great way to look into the family life of African American Culture.
September 11, 2011
This book highlights the importance of family gatherings and that a nice meal can bring families together. In addition children can gain an immense amount of knowledge from grandparents as Jay Jay and his grandmother observe the fish together. The author has used rhyme and repetition to add emphasis and to provide children with a better understanding of the sounds and movement fishes make. Furthermore the different foods eaten in an African culture are addressed, which promotes equal opportunities. However I feel Trish Cooke could have made the book more exciting by adding an element of surprise or making the climax more exciting. This book would appeal to the 0-5 age range as the reader could discuss the role of family members and address the name of different African food.
November 19, 2013
I read this book to the children and they really enjoyed the story. They started to talk about what they do with their grandmas when they go to visit. This book has a lot of repetition and the children enjoyed repeating the words with me. By the end of the book the children could guess where the repetition is. A great book to read at the end of the day and for children to get involved and build on their communication and language skills as well as listening skills.
February 16, 2011
This is a sweet book. A boy goes to his grannie's house, where he waits and then finally eats a big meal with relatives and friends.
March 29, 2011
Sweet simple story of a young girl and her loving family and extended family. Made me wish we lived close to my parents and we could have big family dinners with grandparents, aunts and uncles.
September 20, 2018
Lovely book. Very hyyge. A little boy who loves his grandmothers cooking.
October 2, 2019
Summary: This book is a heartwarming story about a family who meets at granny’s house to eat dinner cooked by Granny. Jay Jay the granny’s grandchild is dropped off by his mother who had to pick up his father so that they may all meet at Grannys house for an afternoon full of delicious food, great conversations, and family time. It reminds the reader of the cliché delicious home-cooked meals Grannys are known for cooking, and how sweet grannies are to their grandchildren.
Major Themes: family, food, love, race
Response: This is a delightful book that reminds me of my relationship with my grandma. She loved to cooked. She was very loving towards us, and at the end of the meal she would make yummy pies, and tamales. Everyone in our household would meet at her house on special occasions such as Birthdays, Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, and New Years. It was time to enjoy delicious food while having a blast with your family and friends.
Recommendation: I recommend this book for children or anyone to read. This beautiful book shows the love grandma has for her family. The joy she gets when everyone meets at her home for a yummy meal surrounded by her loved ones. Not only children can read this book but anyone at any age can read this book.
Major Themes: family, food, love, race
Response: This is a delightful book that reminds me of my relationship with my grandma. She loved to cooked. She was very loving towards us, and at the end of the meal she would make yummy pies, and tamales. Everyone in our household would meet at her house on special occasions such as Birthdays, Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, and New Years. It was time to enjoy delicious food while having a blast with your family and friends.
Recommendation: I recommend this book for children or anyone to read. This beautiful book shows the love grandma has for her family. The joy she gets when everyone meets at her home for a yummy meal surrounded by her loved ones. Not only children can read this book but anyone at any age can read this book.
April 7, 2020
Like the book "Going Down Home With Daddy", this book also stresses the importance of family. When young Jay Jay and his mom go to his grandma's house for dinner, he is starving. Although, grandma keeps telling him dinner is not ready, so the two keep finding other things to do instead like setting the table and eating candy from the candy jar. Eventually, the entire family gets to grandma's and sits down for dinner. While eating and also after eating, Jay Jay realizes how much he loves his family and how much he loves going to his grandma's house.
The author of this book uses onomatopoeia frequently to describe sounds heard at grandma's house. This is good for small children learning to read.
I rated this book 4 stars because I love the idea of going to grandma's house. I love going to grandma's house myself, so reading a story about it makes me happy. It is also good to see a family come together and share a meal and good company. With that being said, I liked the ongoing theme of family.
The author of this book uses onomatopoeia frequently to describe sounds heard at grandma's house. This is good for small children learning to read.
I rated this book 4 stars because I love the idea of going to grandma's house. I love going to grandma's house myself, so reading a story about it makes me happy. It is also good to see a family come together and share a meal and good company. With that being said, I liked the ongoing theme of family.
May 9, 2021
"Full, Full, Full of Love" is a picture book written by Trish Cooke and is a beautiful picture of a loving childhood surrounded by family. The story revolves around Jay Jay, his grandmother, and their family as they enjoy Sunday dinner together. The rhythmic writing that Cooke uses in this story enhances the reading experience, both for the listener as well as for the reader. Furthermore, it is clear that this book was meant to be read aloud between loved ones and enjoyed while being warmly together. The illustrations are visually appealing with soft shading and warm colors. The soft contours of the lines on each page are gentle and relaxing and show the warm embraces and interactions between family members. This book is intended for elementary students and is an excellent way to introduce diversity into the classroom. This beautifully illustrated children's poem captures the warmness that only family can bring. I have read the book as well as listened to the audiobook that is on Youtube (you can find the link to this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsSU5...).
October 25, 2017
Full, Full, Full of Love is a warm story of a boy’s Sunday dinners with his grandmother. I enjoyed the Sunday dinner aspect, which is quite typical in many African American households. I also like that it was not over-presented. Jay Jay the young boy, is tended to by his grandmother, whom he calls, “Gran”. This is a great book for grandparents to read to their children, and I think the text is easily relatable and realistic. I believe what helps to make this book interesting to children is the ease of the text as well as the illustrations. The pictures of their relationship and lifestyle provide a sense of genuineness and realism. The illustrations of the food that Gran cooked most certainly got my stomach growling! I think this is a great read loud book for young children to think about their own relationships with their grandparents or a family member that they are particularly close with.
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November 28, 2019Summary: This books talks about being lovely. Jay Jay spend a Sunday with her family and is anxious for dinner time to arrive. Throughout she asks her grandma is dinner is ready and she has to wait in grandmas arm until the entire family arrives.
Illustrater: Paul Howard
Evaluations of illustration and text: The cover of the book can quickly give the insight that the book is going to be about someone who is very lovely by the title and also the picture. The hug given in the cover photo helps the reader know a little hint of what the story will be about
Strategies in the classroom: This book can show children to have patience. A good plan to do with this book will be to have children have a bring in grandparents day to school. Prior to the day coming they can plan something nice they want to do for their grandparents.
Illustrater: Paul Howard
Evaluations of illustration and text: The cover of the book can quickly give the insight that the book is going to be about someone who is very lovely by the title and also the picture. The hug given in the cover photo helps the reader know a little hint of what the story will be about
Strategies in the classroom: This book can show children to have patience. A good plan to do with this book will be to have children have a bring in grandparents day to school. Prior to the day coming they can plan something nice they want to do for their grandparents.
February 11, 2019
This mouth-watering rhythmic celebration of family, love, and good food will definitely be one that young readers will want to enjoy again and again. The young boy in this beautifully illustrated picture book arrives early at his grandma's house as she's preparing Sunday dinner for the larger family. As he helps her set the table, feed the fish, and get ready, he gets hungrier and hungrier. But when everyone arrives and the food is all set out, readers will wonder if anyone will have enough room for everything. The descriptions along with the lyrical text and warm colors really capture the love of grandmas and big family dinners. This could be a great mentor text for helping young writers describe their own special family times.
October 1, 2019
Summary: This book is about a boy named Jay Jay who goes to his granny's house for dinner. There he spends time with his granny setting the table ready for dinner as they wait for the rest of the family. The family is big and they arrive in multiple different cars to the occasion. Finally, they all have a happy extended family dinner and the room is full of love.
Major themes: Importance of family, parental love, black cuisine.
Personal Response/Why I recommend it: The book showed a full united black family with both parents and a grandparent, this goes against many stereotypes people have against black families. It shows that they are loving, respectful and warm. I recommend it as I think the author did a great job of portraying black families.
Major themes: Importance of family, parental love, black cuisine.
Personal Response/Why I recommend it: The book showed a full united black family with both parents and a grandparent, this goes against many stereotypes people have against black families. It shows that they are loving, respectful and warm. I recommend it as I think the author did a great job of portraying black families.
September 15, 2018
I love love love the pattern and the emotional warmth is palpable. But so was my discomfort throughout! I could feel that awful growing hunger as anxiousness and even shame (and then I thought, oh but it is "important" to model delayed gratification) -- but why would I want to read something "important"? I kept thinking, just a carrot? I get it that there's a family dinner, but a carrot would tide me (Jay Jay) over. (Really, I am not being facetious here. I don't think I am supposed to believe Jay Jay is just being pesky and not truly hungry.) And then ohhh, all that food and all that discomfort of being too full. The hug in the chair at the end is almost worth it. But not quite.
April 28, 2019
Full, Full, Full of Love is about a little boy named Jay Jay that goes to his grandma's house. He is there for Sunday dinner and he is really hungry and is constantly asking if dinner is ready yet. Each time the answer is no and his grandma comes up with something to distract him for a while. Finally dinner is ready and everyone eats till they are full. Then when Jay Jay has to leave he gives lots of hugs to his grandma. I gave this book 4 stars because I think that most children can relate to this book because I do. The text is large and simple and the pictures help to move the story along. The pictures are also very large and colorful with lots of details.
November 3, 2021
This book shocked me by the amount of culture represented! I love the list of food included and the gathering of family. To me, the book first demonstrates the impatience the little boy had and how if he just waits he could be satisfied. It then also shows the immense amount of love shown at your grandma's house and the love from family gathering for dinner. I would recommend this book! It's full of love and positivity and patience on the grandmother's end. I would read to ages 4-6. Great for home and school.
December 29, 2024
A sweet, simple story about Sunday at grandma's. Mom drops the boy off while she goes to get Dad. The boy helps Grannie get ready for Sunday dinner. He's hungry and wants to eat but Grannie says not yet. She distracts him with tasks and a whole lot of love until the rest of the family arrives. The text is simple and ends up with an alliterative phrase like "splash, splish, wiggle, wiggle". This story is so sweet and shows a love of a grandma for her grandson and a big, loving extended family gathering for Sunday dinner.
The illustrations are very cute and appealing.
The illustrations are very cute and appealing.
Want to Read
April 26, 2021Poem about being loved.
"For the youngest member of an exuberant extended family, Sunday dinner at Grannie’s can be full indeed, full of hugs and kisses, full of tasty dishes, full to the brim with happy faces, and full, full, full of love. With a special focus on the bond between little Jay Jay and his grannie, Trish Cooke introduces us to a gregarious family we are sure to want more, more, more of."
"For the youngest member of an exuberant extended family, Sunday dinner at Grannie’s can be full indeed, full of hugs and kisses, full of tasty dishes, full to the brim with happy faces, and full, full, full of love. With a special focus on the bond between little Jay Jay and his grannie, Trish Cooke introduces us to a gregarious family we are sure to want more, more, more of."
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews