Alysa and I just returned from an extended weekend at my mom's: a little grandma time is often a terrific gift to children. This time, I experienced the sweetness of my mom being surrounded by her three children (my brother, sister, and me) as well as five grandchildren (Will Grey, Harry, Molly, Amelia, and Alysa). The grandchildren range from Harry as the youngest at 4 to Amelia as oldest at 18. I loved watching the little and big interactions, the moving in closer for the always- ready hugging arms to the simple glances and connections.
You already know how much I love some of Maclachlan's work. Here she has written another goodie, and this one always makes me think of my mother. The subtitle of this book is "A Grandmother's Words to a Faraway Child." I don't recall other books with that intent-- to connect from a distance with such clarity, grandmother to grandchild-- but here is Machlachlan again naming truths. She must be at an amazing point in her life where her experiences of grandparenting inform her writing. At least that seems true to me. I mean here is this book and I think of Kindred Souls which I reviewed earlier as examples that make me wonder what else she has waiting for us.
Maclachlan organizes her writing around the two homes of characters: one of the grandmother, living somewhere where it snows, and one of the grandchild, living somewhere hot. She uses the great distance between the two characters as a starting point, exploring all that the two humans have in common from shared experiences, and ends with a significant connection: the shared moon. On the back cover, she has written "Your moon is my moon too."
I can imagine reading this to children to invite connections with grandparent experiences. But really, I can totally see grandparents reading this to their grandchildren. Lovely as is so often true with her work, I love this book by Maclachlan. I wish I had thought to bring it to Colorado with me, just to see if my guess of intrigued audiences is really true.
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