“Do your best every day!”
The grandmas and grandpas at Garden View Assisted Living in Carroll, Iowa have lots of back-to-school advice for kids. Recently, they posted it on Facebook.
Anna Quindlen has learned to butt out
“Hang back,” Quindlen, who has two grandkids, advises grandparents in her latest book.
“Go see your mom and your grandparents. They miss you!”
When three young men saw an older woman eating dinner alone at a restaurant in Oxford, Alabama, they asked her to join them. It turned out that she was a widow, and that the next day would have been her 60th wedding anniversary.
What to do if your grandson is a mermaid
Subtly and artfully, this picture book depicts the bond between a boy who’s questioning his gender identity and his steady, open-minded grandma.
The Scottish grandmother and the wonky donkey
The world has fallen in love with the way Janice Clark reads to her grandson.
The best movies about kids and their grandparents
Most movies put grandparents on the sidelines, when they put them anywhere at all. Here are some great ones that give them their due.
The best picture books about kids and their grandparents
These books aren’t just stunningly written and illustrated. They also perceptively observe the complexities of the new American family.
From grandfather to granddaughter, lessons in cooking and life
Celebrated chef Jacques Pépin and his granddaughter, Shorey, have created a video series and a cookbook together.
A daycare center for all ages blooms in Milwaukee
“This is such a joyful place,” says a vice president of the St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care. “The adults bring joy to the kids, the kids bring joy to the adults.”
“What the elders see while sitting, the young ones standing on their toes won’t see”
Proverbs about grandparenting from around the world.
Why this 117-year-old matriarch has more living to do
The hopes of a great-great-great grandmother in Kenya.
In Cleveland, a retirement home is a home for young artists, too
“When I tell people I live in a retirement community, I get a lot of mixed reactions,” says 26-year-old violinist Tiffany Tieu. “Some people don’t believe me.”
The new American family, now streaming
In the new remake of “One Day at a Time,” Rita Moreno, 85, steals the show as a flamboyant, opinionated, and sometimes overzealous grandmother.
“If your grandparents are still alive, embarrass them and yourself”
Ask your grandparents questions about themselves before it’s too late, urges novelist Michael Chabon.
In Moana, Grandma knows best
You’ve probably heard about the latest blockbuster Disney movie and its teenaged heroine, Moana. But have you heard about her really awesome grandma?
Grandmothers, unite!
With Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and Steve Bannon headed to the White House, many of us are feeling powerless. We’re not.
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs: A grandpa’s very tall tale
This picture book celebrates both the bond between kids and their grandparents and the transcendent power of a story well told.
A grandmother and her Girl Scouts
All the Girl Scouts troops in her California town were full, so Kathy Richardson started a new one for her granddaughter and her friends.
How can grandparents help kids with autism?
The monumental stress of raising a child with autism can be eased by grandparents, who are often “ideally suited” to provide parents with support, scholars say.
The very best books about the very best season
For kids, summer means freedom. These books beautifully capture that.
Five generations of blueberry pie
Nancy Schatz is famous in Maine for the blueberry pie she learned how to make from her mother, who learned how to make it from hers. Here’s the recipe, which Nancy’s granddaughters have begun to master, too.
Boys, grandparents, and “the best week ever”
A picture book about what happens when parents get out of the way.
How to cook like an Italian grandma
You’ll need some olive oil, a good butcher, and this recipe for Neapolitan ragù.
The best picture books about spring
I spent the final weeks of winter reading all the picture books I could find about spring. Here are my favorites. They’re simple, they’re deep, and they’re as gorgeous as the season.
“Grandma’s love is what made Grandma’s garden grow”
A moving new song by country music star Zac Brown.
How Miss Rumphius made the world more beautiful
In this extraordinary picture book, a girl’s grandfather inspires her to live well and do good.
“I think I know my grandfather now”
As a boy, Allen Say barely knew his grandpa. As a man, he came to understand him. That’s why he created Grandfather’s Journey, a picture book for which he won the Caldecott Medal in 1994.
Why isn’t there more help for grandparents raising grandkids?
Nearly three million American grandparents are raising at least one of their grandkids, but there’s hardly anywhere they can turn for support. Here are the best national resources I’ve come across.
How to be a grandparent to a kid who needs one
Here’s a beautiful video about the national Foster Grandparent program, which pairs volunteers ages 55 and over with children who need a tutor, a mentor, or both.
To nurture your family, nurture yourself
Parents and grandparents need one another. How can they learn to get along?
Meet the grandmas of the Mississippi Delta
A new book profiles more than 50 black women who suffered brutal discrimination as children but survived to make a better life—and a better world—for their heirs.
Do grandparents know the secret to happiness?
Mo Rocca hopes the grandparents on his TV show can teach him how to live.
How can parents help children and their grandparents connect?
Happiness expert Gretchen Rubin has some ideas.