Although her mind is deteriorating from the effects of Alzheimer's disease, Grandma presents Lisa with a special gift on her birthday.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-5-- A picture book that brings home the reality of Alzheimer's Disease. Lisa, ten, goes to celebrate her birthday at her grandmother's house with her mother. Lisa reminisces about her close relationship with the elderly woman and the expected birthday present--``a beautiful pearl for a beautiful girl''--which will become a necklace when she is older. But all is not well with Grandma; clothing and household items are piled in the wrong places and there are total memory lapses and references to imaginary guests and family members. Although this is not a new situation--Grandma has a caregiver living with her--Lisa and her mother's distress is obvious. In the end, the birthday present is located, but the woman cannot complete the rhyme that has always gone with it. This is a sad story with no magic solutions, but one that children in similar situations are likely to appreciate. Full-page illustrations in muted tones and framed with swirling marbled edges mirror the conflicting emotions of the text. --Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
A poignant account of a child (she looks like a middle grader) visiting Grandma, who has Alzheimer's, with her mother. It's Lisa's birthday, and each year Grandma has given her a pearl to add to her necklace. This year, Grandma is so disoriented and confused that the gift seems in doubt; but in the end there's a glimmer of her old self, and she finds the gift where she has hidden it--in the refrigerator. Whitelaw seamlessly includes flashbacks and bits of explanation to complete her realistic picture of a family's interaction with a tragically deteriorating loved one, and she includes an intelligent note on the disease. Friedman's illustrations, some of which contrast Grandma in the past and the present, are unusually sensitive and perceptive. A warm, gentle story, bibliotherapy at its best. (Young reader/Picture book. 7-10) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Beautiful Pearl,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Beautiful Pearl (Library Binding)
Nancy Whitelaw's A BEAUTIFUL PEARL is a masterfully written, sensitvive story of a young girl visiting her grandmother who is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Imagine the poor grandaughter's apprehension at seeing this confused old woman who can't even remember where she put the girl's birthday present. Eventually the grandmother regains enough lucidity to remember her grandaughter's present: a beautiful pearl. Yet as the old woman gives the gift to her grandaughter the reader is left wondering if it's not really the grandmother rather than the gift who is the more beautiful pearl. With so many children experiencing just such situations in their lives today this book is a must.
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