Catch Hold Of Grandmas Purple Flowers Produced By Adjoa J. Burrowes Compiled As Text

is a book about seasons not just the four seasons of every years, but the seasons that mark the stages of life, Just as Winter concludes the year's seasons, so do age and death mark the end of the life's seasons, But even in death or Winter, there is rebirth and life and memories, Grandmas are truly gifts from God, My grandmas were my world and gave me life lessons every time we got together, This story is magical but did bring tears to this readers eyes, Purple flowers and grandma smiles, This wasn't a flashy book and that's what I love about it, I wasn't familiar with the author, The cover makes it appear as though the story is about a girl picking flowers with her grandmother and it just never grabbed my attention, However, I picked up the book today and I was so touched by the story, The main character in this book, a nameless African American girl enjoys spending time with her grandma, The author used the four seasons to guide the reader from their relationship spring, summer to the grandmother's death winter and the granddaughter working through this and coming to terms with her loss spring.
The illustrator's use of cut outs complimented the story nicely,

We don't see the rest of the family, but the girl's mother is mentioned, In fact, many things in this book are left open, There aren't a great deal of details provided to round out the girl's family, This works well because children can fill in those gaps on their own,

I could see myself sharing this book with a child who has lost a family member specifically a grand parent, This is a surprisingly thoughtful story, Features POC, death, seasons. Really lovely collage illustrations. At first glance you would think this book is a very happy book, But as you get into the book you realize that the little girls grandma passes away, and even though she is sad about it she finds away for to remember her grandmother.
Good book.

Summary: Throughout the year, a little girl walks through the park and down the hill to her grandmothers house, They spend a lot of time together because the little girl goes down to her grandmothers house every day up until the dead of winter, She goes to her grandmas house one day and she realizes that it took her grandma a long time to open the door, and she sees that her grandma is weak.
After she leaves that night her grandma passes away, It took the little girlmonths to get over her grandmas passing, but in the spring she saw that purple flowers bloomed just like the ones at her grandmas house.
It is then that she realizes she can still remember her grandmother through the blooming of purple flowers each spring,

How to use this book with students: This book can be used to teach the students the season, For example the warmth of summer, the crunch of the leaves in fall, the bitter chill of winter, and the blossoming of flowers in the spring.

Self To Text

This book was totally different from what I expected it to be, Wow! this was an eye opener for me I am going through this right now, Losing love one and my best friend was my mommy grief seems to affect us in different ways, This book was about a little girl spending time with her grandmother and them planting vegetables in the garden, The little girl always picking purple flowers for her when she goes

to visit her, I am stunned not the ending that I expected or was looking for, What a BEAUTIFUL story. Touching so gently on such an emotional topic, My students LOVED this one! This book has a deep symbolic meaning, Not only does the color purple provoke deep emotions in the human body, this really represents the hurt of a sudden death of a loved one.
NOT GOOD FOR YOUNG CHILDREN WHO HAVE NOT SUFFERED A DEATH, I've fallen in love with picture books all over again, Sure, I used to read them to my oldest son, And now, I'm reading them to his little brothers, When I was an elementary school teacher I read them to my students also, I've fallen in love with them in a new way because I've started writing some of my own, I love Burrowes book which deals with death and mourning from the perspective of a little girl, The art is unique and beautiful, We've read this book at least ten times, This book touches on a difficult subject the loss of a grandparent, I would reccommend this book for grieving children who have lost a loved one, This book is light hearted and it shows that the person who was lost is no longer present physically their spirit is still present, A little girl is able to easily visit her favorite grandma who lives nearby, During the winter, grandma dies, and the little girl is very sad until spring, when the tiny blooms on a particular purple flower help a her to accept the death while keeping the memory of her grandma alive.
Loved the illustrations! A young girl recalls her visits with her grandmother during each season of the year, until the winter when she dies, .