This book was really quite heartwarming. The illustrations are homey and cozy, and the story was lovely. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book. To start, I loved how this book tried to portray the reality of relationships between the second generation of immigrants’ children and the first generation. To explain, it is usually typical for immigrants’ children to either not know completely or forget about the language of their heritage. Therefore, it’s hard for them to communicate between first generation adults who speak little to no English. And I personally think that this book did well in portraying that reality. For example in the story, Helen was born in the States but her heritage is from China. When her grandfather from China visited her family in the States, they both realized that it was hard to communicate with each other. The story ends by how both of them tried to learn each other’s language in order to communicate with each other. The main idea of this story was that true love and care have no limits even if there may be a language barrier. Another reason why I enjoyed reading this book was because of the illustrations. The illustrator did oil painting for the illustration. By using oil painting, the illustrations portrayed softness and tenderness that aligned with the story’s message. In addition, it made the illustrations to look very realistic. ( )

Helen is a child who lives in America. Her Grandfather comes to America from China to live with her and her family. Helen must give up her room for him and cannot communicate with him because he does not know English and she does not know Chinese. Together they find a way to communicate by counting trains behind Helen's house. They begin to teach each other how to count in their native language and a bond is formed. This is a great story to share with children to help them realize that although other children or people do not speak the same language or have the same culture as they do there is still a connection and bond that can be made with them. ( )

Summary:
This book tells how generations come together in love and understanding to learn from each other. Grandfather has come from China to live with his daughter and her family. He does not know any English and the family, other than his daughter, do not know how to speak Chinese. Gong Gong, the grandfather, resists learning English and stays inside reading his Chinese newspapers. Helen, one of the grand daughters, resent that she has to give up her room for him, and thinks it is too hard to learn Chinese. The two of them eventually warm up to each other as they sit outside together and count the train cars as they pass by house. While counting the cars Gong Gong teaches Helen Chinese, then Helen teacher Gong Gong some English. This breaks the ice between the two and they begin to respect each other and communicate in new ways.

Personal Reaction:
This was a great story. Grandfather counts highlights the universality of the love shared between grandparent and grandchild, a love that helps them cross the boundaries of language and culture.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1) Teach a lesson about different cultures and languages
2) Have students ask their grandparents question about their heritage.
3) Pin point where all the children in the classroom came from on a map.

Summary: Helen's grandfather arrived to come live with her family. He did not really speak after arriving. Soon enough after a few days while Helen was watching the train he counted in Chinese with her. Her grandfather taught her how to count in Chinese while she taught him how to count in English. They also taught each other to write their names in each language.

Evaluation/Argument: I really liked this book and how each language and different cultures were incorporated. Before the text even began the author showed the Chinese characters that were going to be used throughout the text. These characters were used in English in the text, but shown in picture form through the Chinese characters. I thought that the author did a great job of incorporating both of these cultures with the characters. The bond forming between the grandfather and Helen was heartwarming and really emphasized the values of family.
the central message of this story is the importance of family and to embrace the culture that your family comes from. The culture that helps to form your background really impacts you individually. Our cultures should be embraced for what they are as we strive to learn about these differences. ( )