Grandy Thaxter's Helper

by Douglas Rees, S.D. Schindler (Illustrator)

After coming to Grandy Thaxter's home to reveal his macabre plan, the tables are turned on Mister Death when Grandy Thaxter ignores the purpose of his visit and suddenly recruits him to be a helpful hand around her busy home.

Genres: Death, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2004

About the author

I was born on October 19th, 1947 in the hospital at March Air Force Base just outside Riverside, California. My father, Norman, was a career sergeant who'd served as an aircraft mechanic and infantryman in the Philippines campaign early in the war and was taken prisoner on Bataan. My mother, Agnes, was a nurse at the hospital where he was sent to recuperate after the war was over.

Until I was fifteen, I lived on or near a number of Air Force bases in this country and in Germany. My sister, Patricia, was born in 1950 at Travis AFB.

Until I was six, I wanted to be a fireman. Between six and twelve, I wanted to be a paleontologist. When I was twelve, I decided I wanted to be a writer. I still haven't outgrown that.

I made some occasional stabs at writing and submitting manuscripts in my twenties and thirties. When I turned forty-seven, I decided to start writing things more regularly. I've been doing so ever since.

Reviews

[Amy Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grandy Thaxter is the ultimate trickster character.  She outwits Death by putting him to work so that she can continue taking care of her children.  He's too tired the after the first day to carry her over the threshold, so he returns.  And the same things happens again and again.  It's a humorous way to look at death and the eventual passing of a loved one, and the illustrations really help to make this picturebook look like an old timey tale.  

Review cross-listed here!

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grandy is a busy grandmother who takes care of her three grandchildren and four other children. One day she has a visitor who comes to take her away, but she cleverly shows she hasn't time to leave. Funny story. Great illustrations.

[Rodopa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing depicting of Death, and a good way to talk about death in general. The story is uninspired, disjointed, repetitive though. It does depict the back-breaking work women had in the household in the 1800s.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the cheeky grandma and learning about a day in her life as she enlists death in helping her finish the chores.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like the story.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary: Grandy Thaxter is very busy. She has laundry to hang, children to watch, and dinner to cook.
She's much too busy to take a break for anyone....
A clever reworking of a classic folk theme that proves the importance of staying busy, Grandy Thaxter's Helper will have readers rooting for Grandy to outsmart her guest!

Potential Audience (reading level): grades 3-6; fluent

Genre: Fictional picture book

Topic: Light-hearted view of death (makes it not such a scary topic)

Specific curricular uses: This would be a good read aloud for 3rd grade. Allow kids to get into a discussion of who Mr. Death really is and see where their conversation naturally leads.

Social issues the book addresses: Death, looking at it from a more light-hearted perspective.

Specific literary elements: The author includes humor and irony into the story by allowing Grandy to outsmart Mr. Death into letting her live longer. She asks him to help her do some chores before she has to go, but the list of chores never ends! It's ironic that Mr. Death comes to take her away with him, but ultimately decides to wait for a while longer because he's tired of working. There is much dialogue throughout the book as well.

Interactions and counter actions of text and images: The images in the book help support the sense of humor that the text is portraying. Readers can't help but laugh when they see the pictures of all the jobs Grandy gives Mr. Death.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This humorous story gives us the secret for cheating death! Whenever Mr. Death came to get Grandy Thaxter, she just had a few more chores to do before she could leave and enlisted Mr. Death to help her. Turns out, her chores are so hard and so numerous Mr. Death leaves exhausted (without Grandy) every time he comes to haul her away!

Wonderful, if a bit macabre with Mr. Death, illustrations.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Busy, busy, busy...that's what Grandy Thaxter is. When Death shows up to carry her away, she enlists his help with her chores so they'll go much faster before they head out. Whew! Does she ever have a lot of chores. Death is so tired, achy, and sore by the time each day is done, he decides he can come another day when she's not so busy. HA!

[Mary Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this years and years ago. It continues to make the cut when I weed my picture books, but I keep it more for myself than my students. Who doesn't love a character that's just too busy for Mr. Death?

[Aimee Fuhrman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A humorous tale of death come-a-calling and a very clever granny who outsmarts him with good old-fashioned horse sense and hard work. This story is a great springboard for conversations with young ones on the value of industriousness and self-reliance.