Dayal Kaur Khalsa (1943–1989)

I liked the historical slice-of-life presented through the structure of a visiting cousin. It was sweet how the girls tried to make their guest feel welcome. I definitely appreciated the turning point being a trip to the library. ;-)

The story of the author's grandmother's life as she remembered it and as her grandmother told it to her. We know by the third paragraph that this story may not be completely factual: When she was three, Grandma escaped from the Cossacks and came to America "hiding in a hay cart drawn by a tired white horse, all the way across the wide, slate-green Atlantic Ocean."
The pictures are brightly colored and expressive yet realistic and fit the story well.

La abuela de esta historia no es como las demás: no muchas abuelas les enseñan a sus nietas a jugar póker, o qué hacer en caso de que los cosacos invadan su casa. Juntas van al cine, a la montaña rusa de Coney Island y a tomar te en restaurantes chinos, pero como más disfruta la niña es escuchando las anécdotas de la extraordinaria vida de su abuela.

This is a really cool, unheimlich (it reminds me aesthetically of that weird old video game Out of This World) book about a strange green cat-man-thing (a dream cat? a man in a cat suit? A superficially catlike alien or demon?) who shows up to help some kids feel at home and cozy in their room. The unheimlich made heimlich!