A Stopwatch from Grampa

by Loretta Garbutt, Carmen Mok

Overview

A touching portrayal of the loss of a grandparent. “When summer started, I got Grampa’s stopwatch,” a small child says. “I don’t want his stopwatch. I want him.” Grampa used to time everything. A race to the end of the street and back: 24 seconds. Eating bubblegum ice cream: 1 minute, 58 seconds. But now, Grampa’s gone. “There are no more Grampa minutes, Grampa seconds,” the child says. “Time just stops.” But as time goes on, the stopwatch becomes a cherished symbol of remembrance, and the child uses it to carry on Grampa’s favorite pastimes and traditions. A treasured ritual from the past can sometimes offer the perfect bridge to the future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781525305290
Publisher:	Kids Can Press
Publication date:	04/07/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	79 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Loretta Garbutt is a children’s bookseller and voice actor based in Toronto, Ontario. She has played the voice of Valerie on the beloved children’s television series Max and Ruby and the voice of Franklin the Turtle. A Stopwatch from Grampa is her debut picture book.;Carmen Mok is a studio art graduate of the University of Waterloo and a craft and design graduate of Sheridan College. She has illustrated a number of children’s books for publishers across Canada and the United States. Carmen lives in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Editorial Reviews

An excellent and understated portrayal of grief from a child's perspective.—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

A good discussion starter, this poignant, accessible picture book explores grief, the comfort provided by the passage of time, and the way in which memories allow us to keep loved ones in our hearts forever.—School Library Journal, starred review

... a strong choice for parents, teachers, and librarians to read with young children who have experienced loss.—CM Magazine

... heart-tugging ...—Horn Book

This story about loss, grief, and healing is both appealing and accessible.—Cooperative Children‘s Book Center

From the Publisher

★ 03/01/2020

PreS-Gr 2—Told in an unadorned first-person narrative, this story provides an honest depiction of the loss of a grandparent. A child sits alone on a porch swing, holding Grampa's stopwatch, with a forlorn expression that matches the text: "I don't want his stopwatch. I want him." Time seems to have stopped; the summer day is still and quiet, and a dog waits patiently nearby with its ball. The stopwatch unleashes a series of vivid memories. Throwing the memento into a bottom drawer, the youngster faces days that now seem lonely and empty. Seasons pass, though, and "Remembering him feels good. Done in gouache and graphite, the illustrations meld together soft textures, warm backdrops, and appealing splashes of color. The characters' faces are expressive and deftly support the emotions revealed in the text. VERDICT A good discussion starter, this poignant, accessible picture book explores grief, the comfort provided by the passage of time, and the way in which memories allow us to keep loved ones in our hearts forever.—Joy Fleishhacker, Pikes Peak Library District, Colorado Springs

School Library Journal

★ 2019-12-22
Something as simple as a stopwatch can start, stop, and restart a lifetime of memories.

A young child with pale skin and dark hair holds a stopwatch and slumps, despondent, on a porch. Grampa has recently passed away, and the child is in the throes of sadness and loneliness. Together, they had used the stopwatch to record various activities in minutes and seconds, like the child's eating bubble-gum ice cream, Grampa's snoring on the couch, both eating oatmeal-raisin cookies, and more. Those seconds and minutes represented a deep, intergenerational friendship, the absence of which is keenly felt by the young child. Unable to bear this loss, the child buries the stopwatch in a drawer and experiences anger, bargaining, denial, even depression—rarely so clearly characterized in picture books for young readers. Time heals most wounds, and, as the seasons pass, the time comes at last when new memories can be made using Grampa's favorite stopwatch. Told in honest, first-person prose, this story gently confronts this first journey through loss, offering sensitive conversation starters for families. Muted, poignant illustrations rendered in paint and both colored and graphite pencils effectively depict this difficult yet all too common experience. The child's face in particular, though simply drawn, evokes a range of emotions—at once poignant and comprehensible.

An excellent and understated portrayal of grief from a child's perspective. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews