The Grannyman

by Judith Byron Schachner, Judy Schachner

Overview

Simon is an old cat. His family adores him and they do everything they can to keep him comfortable. After a full life of chasing butterflies, pruning houseplants and playing the piano, he now feels useless. Then one day his family drops something soft and small on this tummy. A kitten! There is much the kitten needs to learn about the world. Suddenly Simon has lots to do!

Judith Byron Schachner pays homage to one special, very old feline in a book for anyone who has lived with and loved a cat. She is the bestselling author of Skippyjon Jones, Mr. Emerson's Cook and bits & pieces.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781948959865
Publisher:	Purple House Press
Publication date:	06/30/2022
Pages:	34
Sales rank:	378,332
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.09(d)
Age Range:	3 - 8 Years

About the Author

Best known for her Skippyjon Jones series, Judy Schachner has illustrated many of her own stories, including the much-loved Grannyman and its companion book, Bits & Pieces. A #1 New York Times Bestseller, Judy is also known for her spirited reading of the Skippyjon stories, for which she won the first E.B. White Read Aloud Award.  She lives in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

Editorial Reviews

K-Gr 2-Blind, deaf, and extremely arthritic, Simon, an elderly Siamese cat, is ready to call it quits after a long and happy life of furniture scratching, plant pruning, and mouse catching. Despite his family's deep love (they even submitted to "stinky old cat breath" in their faces when Simon chose to share their beds), his independent spirit becomes depressed as he needs more and more help in his daily life. Suspecting his decision to give up on life, his family plops a new kitten on his chest, and Simon puts his own worries on the back burner. Rejuvenated, he shows the kitten the facts of life at the milk saucer and the litter box. As his nurturing skills emerge, his loving family nicknames him "the Grannyman." Schachner's warm, emotional text is echoed in her softly colored illustrations, clearly depicting the contrast between joyous young Simon (seen in flashbacks) and his diminished elderly self. Owners of aged pets will surely "Aw!" at Simon's plight and resurrection. An endearingly sentimental tale.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

From Schachner (Mr. Emerson's Cook, 1998, etc.), a book tailored to cat lovers, as those best versed to appreciate the many subtle feline endearments caught in these pages. Simon is an aged Siamese: "With the exception of his nose, most of his parts had stopped working long ago." He shuffles about the house and is treated as royalty by the family who cares for him. He regales readers with the life he has so richly lived: the "fluffy works of art" he sculpted out of the back of the sofa, the plants he pruned, and children he taught to be good cats. He supposes that the time has come for him to sail off into the great unknown, until his family deposits a bundle—a Siamese kitten—in his lap. As Simon shows the kitten the ropes, he figures there is no need to make his exit just yet, and earns the new name, Grannyman, for his parenting skills. Schachner's artwork is tender and apt, capturing nuances in the postures struck, the cock of the head, the bend of the tail. (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews

"This story...is a pleasure from the ends of its whiskers to the tip of its tail." -Publishers Weekly

"Schachner's warm, emotional, text is echoed in her softly colored illustrations.  An endearingly sentimental tale." -School Library Journal

From the Publisher