A Young Man's Dance [Hardcover]

Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton (Author), Layne Johnson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Grandma Ronnie loved to bake cookies for her grandson. She loved to dance with him in the kitchen while the cookies were in the oven. Now she lives in a nursing home, where she sits in a wheelchair and plays bingo. Grandma Ronnie doesn't remember the cookies. She doesn't remember the name of her grandson. But Grandma Ronnie remembers dancing. Seeing Grandma Ronnie in the nursing home isn't easy for her grandson. It's like visiting a stranger. His mother, however, helps him understand that Grandma Ronnie is still his grandmother. Though she may have forgotten their favorite cookies, she had made them with love in her heart. During one visit, a band is playing at the nursing home. Grandma Ronnie is swaying to the music. That's when her grandson begins to see her in a new light. What he does next will lift his grandmother's spirits as well as his own. Laurie Knowlton's deeply felt story is told from the perspective of a young person struggling to understand a loved one suffering with Alzheimer's disease. It is illustrated with great warmth by Layne Johnson.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Swirling, dancing colors, both muted and sunny, accompany this lyrical story about a boy whose grandmother has Alzheimer's disease. The young narrator doesn't like to visit Grandma Ronnie now that she is in a home and no longer recognizes him. The book also showcases the poignant process that moves the boy toward an understanding and acceptance of his different yet still beloved relative. The boy declares I don't like it here!-¦It smells funny-¦ there are old people everywhere. His mother says, Their eyes light up when you come. When he complains that his grandmother doesn't even like our favorite cookies, his mother gently reminds him that Grandma Ronnie used to make those cookies for you....It was her gift of love for her favorite grandson. Oil paintings reveal clear, expressive faces on soft, fluid backgrounds that breathe action. In one exuberant picture of happier times, the boy and his grandmother dance together, and she says, A young man needs to know how to dance if he wants to get himself a girl. This metaphor of dance then symbolically carries through to a very touching ending in which the boy dances with his now wheelchair-bound grandmother. All libraries will want to buy one or more copies of this book.-Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma Library, CA
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About the Author

Layne Johnson has illustrated many-award-winning picture books for children, including Remembering Grandpa by Uma Krishnaswami; A Young Man's Dance by Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton; Where Horses Run Free by Joy Cowley; and Christmas for a Kitten by Robin Pulver. The artist loves nature, history and children. Layne's favorite activities include sharing his love of art and telling a good story with pictures. He lives in Houston, Texas, where his wife and family help him pick tomatoes from his garden.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Boyds Mills Press (March 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590782593
• ISBN-13: 978-1590782590
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,353,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A simple story about a young boy and his coming to grips with his grandmother who has Alzheimer's disease., January 28, 2007

By 

Marci Twain (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Young Man's Dance (Hardcover)

As I read this story I thought of the movie The Notebook that I thoroughly enjoy. Both this book and The Notebook deal with coping with Alzheimer's disease. Both will allow their audiences to get emotionally wrapped up in the subject. This book is 14 scenes (2 pages each) and I liked it. The illustrations were not my cup of tea, and I think the text could have been somewhat better. I suspect this book will be popular with kids who have a loved one in their family who has Alzheimer's disease. And the book will be used more as a teaching tool rather than a fun book to learn how to read or follow a story line.

The story is about a young boy whose grandmother can't remember him or the fun things the two of them did together when they were younger. The grandmother now lives in a nursing home and the boy wonders why they still visit his mother's mother. By the end of the story he figures out the answer. Very touching.

I would have liked the book better if the pictures had been done differently. The paintings made me feel like I was reading a dream rather than a real-life story. 4 stars!

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book for All Generations, April 12, 2006

By 

Grateful Reader "Grateful Reader" (rural, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Young Man's Dance (Hardcover)

Once again, Laurie Knowlton has given us a stunning picture book that both informs and inspires. For every family who knows someone with dementia, or every child who loves Grandma, this book is a must!