Frances Lincoln Children's Books Grandad Mandela

Great book! My granddaughter loves it.

As the world prepares to celebrate the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth on 18 July, ‘Grandad Mandela’ shows children why Nelson Mandela was unable to celebrate his birthday with his family for so many years. In a conversation with their grandmother Zindzi (Nelson & Winnie Mandela’s youngest daughter), Zazi (8) and Ziwelene (6) learn about Nelson Mandela’s life, sharing a story of great sacrifice and triumph. ‘Grandad Mandela’ gives us a sense of how Nelson Mandela was formed by his origins in the Eastern Cape, his principles of justice and ‘ubuntu’ and how his family and supporters in South Africa and the whole world contributed to his release. When Zazi and Ziwelene ask about the meaning of Nelson Mandela’s life story, their grandmother explains to them why it is so important and how they and all children can become part of this great story. Nelson Mandela’s love for children is legendary, and the beautifully illustrated children’s book ‘Grandad Mandela’ is a great place for children to start loving Nelson Mandela! :-)

Grandad Mandela is a picture book biography of Nelson Mandela with a storytelling approach. Mandala’s daughter is answering her two young children’s questions as about who their great grandfather was and what he did. Using this approach allows history and his life story to be told in a gentle and loving tone, in a way that is also not patronizing or preachy. Trying to explain apartheid or why there was government separation of blacks and whites is a topic that is not easy to tackle wth young children who have not lived through it ad who are not indoctrinated with such worldviews but this book makes the important attempt.A short picture book for children cannot ever answer everyone’s questions nor should it. Exposing children to history and biography is important and picture books should be jumping off points for further questioning and answer seeking through other learning activities and reading other books and using other source material, as is age-appropriate. The best thing a book can do is open up a line of discussion after providing material for a child to think about and process on their own, come to their own questions after piquing their curiosity. To learn and to know more in order to seek understanding is the goal of a book and its role in educating people of all ages.Illustrations by Sean Qualls were made with mixed media with collage, drawing, and painting. The color palette of soft muted earthtones and combining blues and neutrals brings a subdued and unified feeling to a book that is filled with tough issues of racism, police brutality, Mandala’s jailing, and prosecution of his children. The treatment of the illustrations allows tough topics to be discussed in the text while not appearing visually scary to children.The overall message of the book is helpful and that change can happen for the better even if it takes decades. Rating 5 stars = Love It.

There are so many books about Nelson Mandela, but what I like about this one is that it comes at it from the point of view of his family which underlines the huge sacrifice he made but the family did too. Gillian Slovo, in her autobiography, touches on how it felt to be a child of those who fought apartheid, and in that book, she feels Nelson Mandela is one who understood. We get a taste of that here with the birthdays unmarked and school routines disrupted. It is easy with heroes to forget that they come from this wider family picture so I feel this is a useful book to add to ones family or school collection.

Great storyline written with lots of clear information and explanations about more difficulty words and events to make it easier for conversations and still a fun story. Quite long but this can add to it too