What Grandmas Do Best / What Grandpas Do Best

by Laura Numeroff, Lynn Munsinger (Illustrator)

Grandmas can do lots of things, like paint with you, take you on a picnic, and teach you how to dance. But what do they do best? The answer is made perfectly clear in this Irresistible celebration of grandparents and the everyday things they do.
Grandpas can do lots of things, like play hide-and-seek, help you build a sand castle, and sing you a lullaby. But what do they do best? The answer is made perfectly clear In this irresistible celebration of grandparents and the everyday things they do.

Genres: Picture Books, Family, Childrens, Storytime, Love, Animals, Kids

40 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2000

Reviews

[Anahita]

One book, two sides, two stories. It's cool and creative.

[Carina]

I’m five and I picked out this book at my school library. Earlier in the school year, I brought home What Mommies/Daddies Do Best (twice), so I was excited to check this book out. I love my grandma and grandpa. It was fun to read this book and think about the things I do with them. I liked the artwork in this book, too. I like how you flip the book over to get the other version of the story.

[Casey Robinson]

Summary: What Grandmas Do Best/What Grandpas Do Best are two of the cutest books combined together! First, you read about "What Grandmas Do Best" through all the different kinds of animals. Grandmas can make you hats, take walks, teach you how to dance, and help build a sand castle. Every grandma is different, which makes them special. Then right in the middle of the book it flips to "What Grandpas Do Best". This is just like grandma's version but it's about you and grandpa. He can play hide-and-seek, paint with you, and take you to the beach. Grandparents are all different and do different things but best of all, they can give you lots and lots of love.

Thoughts: This is such an adorable book! I just loved the simplicity of it and the cute pictures. Each page had a different animal and its grandparent. I loved the transition from grandma to grandpa because I didn't even realize it was a two-part book. Everyone loves their grandparents so I think this book is really sweet and reminds us of how lucky we are to have our grandparents.

Classroom: Children love their grandparents so much! I think this is a really cute book to have on my future classroom, library shelf. Especially on Grandparents Day, this book would be great to pull out and read to the children. It reminds them of everything their grandparents do and that they are loved by them!

[Abby Holcomb]

This book is a double sided book showing what grandmas do best and what grandpas do best. Each story has exactly the same words showing that grandmas and grandpas can do the exact same things! It has multiple different animals as well showing that it didn’t change anything for what activities they could do. It ends with saying that the best thing grandmas and grandpas can do though is to give you lots and lots of love.

This book is very cute and simple. I like how it shows both stories with the exact same words to show that grandmas and grandpas can do all the same things and neither is better than the other. It is very sweet how it ends with the best thing they can do is to love their grandchildren. When kids get older they don’t remember the activities they did with their grandparents but the love they were shown.

This book would be wonderful for grandparents to read to their grandchildren but also for parents to read. It could be read during units where kids are learning about their family or if there is an open house and their grandparents can come to the school.

[Carlee Freeman]

This book goes through all the things that many people love that their grandmother and grandfathers do! In this book, the pictures depict a grandmother and grandchild with all sorts of different animals. This book is great to use in the classroom especially because many of the kids may actually be living with their grandparents instead of their real parents and they feel that they can relate to this book. Even if students do not live with their grandparents this book is relatable to those who have grandparents. I used this book with the boy I was tutoring and out of all the books we have read all year this has been his favorite! This book would be great for kindergarten and first grade students!

[Cheryl Gladfelter]

Really simple story that's perfect for daycares/preschools looking for family books. I liked that this one is both grandma and grandpa, the same story for each of them. The pictures change though, which is what I really liked seeing the differences for. Example: for "make you a hat", Grandma is knitting a hat and Grandpa has made newspaper hats. Just cute and simple, and I like that they're doing all the same things.

[Cameron Walker]

This is a cool, kind of two books in one. On one side, it describes what grandpas can do, and the other flip side discusses grandmas. I think it's really cool though because it shows that either can do the same things and love for their grandchildren, which is really important.

[Trisha Parsons]

This is a really great Storytime book if you have kids who are attentive to pictures. This book is a 2 in one, and each story is the same, but the images are just different between grandma and grandpa.

[Paul]

the date you completed reading the book: 10-15-20
a star rating (1 to 5): 4
the date: 10-16-20
the genre: fiction
appropriate grade range: k-1
a written book review:
I like how it has 2 books in one. My students were amazed at this.

[Pam]

Fun story that shows that grandmas and grandpas can do anything with their grandchildren.

[Andrea]

Adorable!

[Linda Heggs]

A simple text with picture prompts, great for beginner readers.

[Jill]

Adorable book celebrating grandparents. My mom used to read this to my daughters all of the time!

[Yadhira Linares]

I really enjoyed reading this book in class, it is a very cool book with two stories very created

[Arleen Roelike]

Awesome book! I have given copies to all my great-grandchildren!

[Kelly]

Very simple. The book is about some of the things your grandma or grandpa can do with you.

[Jenna Spinazzola]

genre: picture book

audience: k & 1st grade

topic: grandmothers/grandfathers

theme: grandmothers are best at everything!

curricular uses: read aloud, independent reading

reading level: early readers

illustrations: support the text as the story goes through from one thing to another telling what her grandmother/grandfather does the best

thoughts: I really like this book. One side tells about grandmothers and then you flip the book over and it tells about grandfathers. It goes from hide-and-seek, to making hats, going for walks, painting, etc. Leisurely activities that you can do with your grandma/grandpa. Very cute book!

[Amanda]

I had high hopes that this would be a fun book my parents could read with my son during their visit. My mom read the Grandmas part, but my dad didn't get to the Grandpa's part. I read the whole thing to him and I was really disappointed that both stories are exactly the same, just substituting Grandpa for Grandma and using a different cast of animal pairs. I know Grandmas and Grandpas CAN do all the things in the book, but to be honest, do they usually? Mine didn't and my parents don't seem to. The illustrations left something to be desired too.

[Jillian Warren]

I like this book because it is two books in one. It discusses the fun things that you can do with grandparents. Some of the activities are the same but the illustrations demonstrate that the same actions can be done differently and that is ok. This would be a good book to read to a child that may be living with or being raised by grandparents. It gives us a non-traditional view of family structure and how all families are not of a specific make-up.

[Connie]

The text for both books is the same, but the illustrations vary. So "Grandpas make hats" is shown with grandpa making newspaper hats, but when Grandma does that she knits. Grandma is shown fingerpainting, grandpa is painting with watercolors. But the important thing is that both sets of grands can give you "lots of love".

Sweet story.

[Caitlyn]

This book is a picture book that shows a positive relationship between a grandmother and her grandchild. What Grandmas Do Best depicts and illustrates all of the things that a grandma does for her grandchildren. This book could be used for an independent reading for a child that is an emergent reader. The pictures in this book confirm the meaning of the book.

[Alexis Munk]

I thought this book was very good. I liked the use of the different animals. I would use this book with children younger than second grade or students who are on a kindergarten or first grade level. I like how it changes into a different book and the pages for the other book are the other way. The first time I read this book it was very confusing.

[Alejandra Mendoza]

This two sided book is about what grandmas and grandpas do best. I enjoyed the different animals that were shown in the illustration. The text are simple enough for beginner readers to follow along and learn how to read.

[Sarah Threlkeld]

When I picked this up from the library I didn't realize it included the same story from two sides/perspectives. I would've loved this as a kid. Fun book for grandparents to read with their grandchildren.

[Tricia]

great book about grandparents. one side grandma, the other grandpa. text by numeroff.

[Cws]

JEPIC-Num

[Mckinley]

2 books in one - depends on which side you start on.

[Gail]

Cute because the words are the same for grandmas and grandpas but the pictures are different.

[Library Quine]

A flip over book showing some of the things grandmas and grandpas can do.

[Jessica]

My daughter loved this book! Very sweet and I loved the illustrations.