Grampa-Lop

Serendipity

by Stephen Cosgrove, Robin James

Despite the disapproval of their parents, the young rabbits flock to hear old Grampa-Lop tell his magical tales every afternoon.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, Animals, Young Adult

31 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Bella Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

fern and i read this series in between eye drop doses last night, they are seriously the cutest books! thank you marie for thrifting them for us ❤️

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, I have this version, though I'm putting my review here since I'm not sure which edition it actually is (also, the spine says "Grandpa Lop"):



Personally, I think this is the better cover despite the plain title, since it conveys more of a grandfatherly feel than the other version. (It's also cuter!)

As far as the story goes... I don't know. It's a good lesson, but the way it's set up feels – icky. It might be because the conflict occurs when the adult-but-not-elderly rabbits see that the baby bunnies are going off somewhere all the time and just AUTOMATICALLY assume it's no good, because the baby bunnies describe Grampa-Lop's stories as "magic," and "Magic isn't real!" So they just ban the babies from seeing Grampa, because... bad influences or whatever.

Obviously, when that just makes everybody miserable, and the adult rabbits decide to give Grampa a chance to "prove" he's a bad influence, they see the "magic" for themselves.

I know it's a variant of "Respect your elders" as well as "Don't judge a book by the fact that it mentions MAGIC", but... I don't know. I guess I prefer the simpler conflict of the original Leo the Lop, where it was just overcoming mild awkwardness instead of outright prejudice. Then again, I grew up with the latter, where this one is completely new to me. (Also, the prejudice thing feels too much like how real people behave about "magic" and such...)

Still recommended for younger readers... if you can find it.

[BRNTerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's really no moral to this story. The older rabbits, not their parents like the synopsis says, really dislike the baby rabbits listening to stories told by Grampa-Lop, who turns into the Wizard of the Wood while telling them. He's old and his fur has turned gray but when telling the stories, it turns silver. They don't like the 'lies' he tells the baby rabbits and won't let them go into the woods to listen to his stories anymore. The baby rabbits get depressed and can't get any work done so at the suggestion of the babies, they all go to the usual spot in the woods to hear stories told by Grampa-Lop. It's no surprise that the older rabbits like the stories and they all go into the thicket each day to hear his stories. The best part is that Grampa-Lop has bangs . My favorite image is here .

[Erin]

I thought that the way the adults behaved here was just a little bit... well, oversimplified stupidity. "None of you kids can go listen to Grampa Lop's stories anymore because they're making you come back and tell lies about magic being real"? Do none of these supposedly grown-up rabbits understand the concept that it's a perfectly normal and healthy part of childhood to occasionally—*gasp*!—play pretend? Or even the concept that it's possible to talk about "magic" in a—*gasp*!—metaphorical sense?

Then again, maybe this book should be donated in bulk to churchgoers who don't let their kids read Harry Potter because any portrayal of magic in a fantasy story that doesn't come directly from God is somehow supposed to be Satanic. *eye roll*

[Rena Sherwood]

For a Serendipity book, this was a little confusing. Why is Grampa-Lop the only lop-eared bunny in the forest? Is he related in any to Leo the Lop (it never says.) Is this book somehow promoting the supernatural as real, or just trying to teach children to be more obedient around their grandparents? I mean, let's face it -- many grandparents talk nothing but shit. I know mine did. I never met my paternal grandfather, but from how my Dad described him, I was much better off for having NOT known him.

I have to side with the "older bunnies" on this one. Would you want your kids hanging around a weird-looking old guy you don't know anything about? The older bunnies argue that there's no such thing as magic. Now, in the real world, that's true. But this is the Serendipity world. Magic is fucking everywhere.

So, I'm a little confused. What, in the real world, is the "magic" in the stories supposed to represent? Politics? Religion? Just how the world was Grampa-Lop was a kit? What? Yeah, I know I'm overthinking this, but I'm lost here.

Robin James does her usual great job here, even though she gets the color of Grampa-Lop's eyes wrong. She seemed to want him to have a more realistic eye color than crystal blue. At one point, four baby bunnies get into a fight. You will never see a more adorable scrum. In fact, this book is a cuteness overload.

[Amy :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember the Serendipity Books from my childhood - that's when I learned the word "serendipity". Maybe the other stories have better lessons. This one seems very out of place today.

[Nicki Hinkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful story about the magic our elders can help us experience. I have to admit that I teared up twice as I read this! The art is amazing too!

[Robert Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you read closely you will learn a lesson from this story.

[JD Waggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one stays with me; it's technically Leo the Lop Tail Four, I guess, but as usual you don't have to know anything about Leo to get this story. Here, Grampa Lop (which is in itself adorable since most English-speaking kids do pronounce Grandpa as Grampa) tells wondrous tales that come alive and the kids all love to listen until their elders say it's packs of lies and forbid them to do so. The elders realize the stories are good for the kids and for them, too, and all are happy.

The Aesop-style fable of the book is to listen to the old folks who have fabulous memories and stories tucked away in their minds, but I think the greater lesson of this book is the importance of story-telling and that something doesn't have to be factually correct for it to be true. The adult rabbits here are very concerned with the stories being lies because, of course, there's no such thing as magic (thank you, Vernon Dursley), but the stories are beautiful and call to something within each of the younger bunnies to make them better versions of themselves. That is truth, which makes Grampa Lop's magic true, even if there really isn't any provable magic going on at all.

Fabulous little book that I'll definitely be keeping.

[Shayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a fuzzy old bunny named Grampa Lop. All the young bunny rabbits loved to hear Grampa Lop tell stories. The adult bunnies were leery of Grampa Lop so they forbid their children to ever see Grampa Lop again. Time passed and the children got rowdier and Grampa Lop got sadder. Eventually the young bunnies convinced the adults to listen to Grampa Lop’s stories, and they did. And all was well in the land.
I like this book because there is text on one side of the page, and there is a detailed picture on the other side of the page. The text and pictures complement one another. There is also a moral to be learned at the end of the story. Which make this book a very worthy read.
I would use this book to teach my children. They would enjoy looking at the pictures, and they would also learn some great life lessons. They would be better kids for reading this book.

[Shelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those wonderful Serendipity Book Series for young readers. I remember loving these books as a child, with their bright colorful illustrations and sweet characters. Rereading them now as an adult with my child, I love them even more. Leo the Lop Tail Four is a beautiful example to us all of the value of the elderly. The wealth of knowledge that they can, and would love to, share is invaluable if we only take the time to listen.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very sweet book that shows how much we need to value our elders and the magic they can bring back into our lives if we just give them a bit of our time. Grampa Lop also reminds us of the emotions the elderly have and the forgiveness that can be found even when we neglect them with our own selfish actions whether directly or indirectly.

The pictures are pretty but not as gorgeous as some of the other books but it will still catch the mind of little ones.

[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series does a beautiful job of drawing a reader into the world of the story. This one all about how the little rabbits lost interest in Grampa-Lop and then realized how cool he was again.