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Recommended Books or Reading
Books to Read with Children on the Topic
of Aging and the Elderly
Sunshine Home (available for check-out)
Eve Bunting
This book is about a young boy dealing with the fact that his grandmother is now in a nursing home. (picture book)
The Gardener (available for check-out)
Sarah Stewart
This book is about intergenerational connections and how a young girl made a difference in the lives of others with her garden. (picture book)
Mrs. Katz and Tush (available for check-out)
Patricia Polacco
This book would be great to use with an intergenerational project. (picture book)
Conversation Starters As Easy As ABC, 123 (available for check-out)
Devora Kaye and Gabi Roussos
This book has ideas to start conversations with people who have memory loss.
Something to Remember Me By (available for check-out)
Susan V. Bosak
This is a true story of the relationship between a girl and her grandmother. It is about love, memories and legacies across generations. (picture book)
How to Build a Grandma Connection (available for check-out)
Susan V. Bosak
This book gives practical ideas as to how to build a connection between grandparents and grandchildren.
Tuesdays with Morrie (available for check-out)
Mitch Albom
This is a fiction chapter book about aging and death.
Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge (available for check-out)
Mem Fox
This story is about a young boy and his elderly friend who is losing her memory. It would be great to use in an intergenerational service project or as a model for service-learning. (picture book)
The History of Tacony, Holmesburg, and Mayfair: An Intergenerational Study (available for check-out)
The Kids Can Help Book (available for check-out)
Suzanne Logan
This book is written for kids to give them ways to help the homeless and hungry, the elderly, the sick or disabled, other kids in need, and the planet and animals.
Tuck Everlasting (available for check-out)
Babbitt, Natalie
Is living forever such a great thing?
Big Man and the Burn-Out
Bess, Clayton
Jess, who has lived with his grandparents since his mother deserted him, learns some important lessons about nurturing and getting along with his grandmother. NewYork: Houghton Mifflin, 1985
The Wednesday Surprise
Bunting, Eve
Anna and Grandma share a secret they will reveal at Dad's birthday party: Someone has learned to read. Who has been the teacher? Clarion Books, 1989
House of Wings
Byers, Betsy
An older, but excellent story about a boy, Sammy, learning to respect and admire his grandfather, a reclusive old man who rescues and cares for an injured crane. Viking Press, 1972
The Remembering Box
Clifford, Eth
A moving remembrance of a boy's relationship with his grandmother. As part of a Sabbath celebration, Grandma brings items from her special box and tells stories from the past about them to Joshua. Houghton, 1985
The Rocking Chair Rebellion
Clifford
Opie Cross gets involved in the struggles of a group of residents in a home for the aged who want to purchase a house and live independently. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978
The Get-Away Car
Clymer, Eleanor
Maggie and her grandmother travel to upstate New York to set up their own life when a meddlesome aunt threatens to put Grandma in a rest home. New York: Dutton, 1978
Thaddeus
Herzig, Alison Cragin
A sensitive story in which seven-year-old Tad's great uncle Thaddeus presents him with a unique birthday book and then tells him the story of each of the six birthdays that have come before. Boston: Little, Brown, 1984
Comfort Herself
Kay, Geraldine
When her mother dies, Comfort - a child of mixed race - is faced with a difficult decision about whether to remain in England with her English grandmother or to make a new home in Ghana, where her paternal grandmother has take a liking to her. London: Deutsch, 1984
Figure of Speech
Mazer, Norma F
A poignant and timely novel dealing with the plight of the aging in our society. Dell, 1986
Annie and the Old One
Miles, Miska
Annie, a young Navajo girl, learns to deal with death through the experience of losing her grandmother. Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1971
Love You Forever
Munsch, Robert
As a child grows up, we see him and his mother change, but their love remains strong. Ontario, Canada: Firefly Books Ltd., 1986
Dogsong
Paulsen, Gary
An excellent adventure story about a young competitor in the Ideterod, the famous Alaska dog sled race from Anchorage to Nome. The tale provides perspectives on respect for elders and family traditions. New York: Puffin Books, 1985
The Golden Days
Radley, Gail
Not only does Cory "adopt" elderly Carlotta, a nursing home resident, but they run away to start a new life and learn the true meaning of caring. New York: MacMillan, 1991
Grandmother's Chair
Scott, Ann
Katie's grandmother tells her about and shows her pictures of four generations of little girls who have sat in Katie's little black chair. The story depicts the similarities and differences of growing up in four different generations. New York: Clarion Books, 1990
Grandpa Ritz and the Luscious Lovelies
Shyer, Marlene Fanta
Phillip spends the summer with his grandfather, hoping to cheer up the newly widowed man. The book gives you an approach to discussing death and dying. New York: Scribner, 1985
Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch
Spinelli, Eileen
An anonymous valentine changes unsociable Mr. Hatch into a jovial, helpful neighbor. After the postman retrieves the valentine delivered to the wrong address, Mr. Hatch thinks, "Nobody loved me after all," until his neighbors come up with an idea. Bradbury Press, New York, 1991
Callie's Way
Wallace-Brodeur, Ruth
The odd one out in her family, Callie develops a sustaining friendship with Megan, a bedridden stroke patient who helps Callie cope with the ups and downs in her life. New York: Atheneum, 1984
A Begonia for Miss Applebaum
Zindel, Paul
When Henry and Zelda discover their favorite high school teacher, Miss Applebaum, has retired, and may not have long to live, they take matters into their own hands. Through Miss Applebaum, they learn the insatiable desire to help others, and to truly celebrate life. Harper and Row, 1989
The Pigman (available for check-out)
Zindel, Paul
What started as a prank phone call leads to friendship between two 10th graders and an older man. Loraine and John, struggling to survive in their own families, develop a sense of family with The Pigman. The three become inseparable, creating their own world but never leaving reality too far behind. Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1968