My Grandma's Songs - Tapa blanda

What magic grows in the heart of a child and takes wings in the seasons of life? As an 8-year-old learns to sing at the side of her grandma while in the kitchen, farmyard and cornfields, the images and rhythms are bathed in the richness of a lush Iowa summer. Gospel melodies flat through the cornfields, hollyhocks and roses while granddaughter and grandmother share the simiple daily rituals of preparing food, tending garden and nurturing animals. When the young girl grows up, words and images from those old songs bring comfort, joy and something new. Children feel the magic in this song, sewn like a quilt from her grandma's songs, and relish the vibrant paterns and colors in the mixed media illustrations. By the third chorus they'll be singing along, and at the end of the book, begging to read it again.

Gwendolyn Countryman grew up on a farm in rural Iowa only a few miles from her maternal grandparents. Old-time country music, simple natrual beauty, and the engaging experiences of growing up in rural Iowa are the inspiration for many of her songs, stories and creative life. "My Grandma's Songs" was written as both the story of how she learned to sing, and a tribute to her grandmother, Minnie Pearl Burdock. Gwendolyn is a singer, songwriter, musician, storyteller and elementary school reading teacher. She lives in Iowa City, Iowa with her two West Highland Terriers; close to her own three grandchildren.