Review: The Greatest
The Greatest
by Veera Hiranandani, illustrated by Vesper Stamper
Random House Studio (imprint of Random House Children's Books), 2024
Category: Picture Books
Reviewer: Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvili
Growing up, our family's Sundays were always set aside for visiting my grandparents: first my mother's parents, and then my father's mother. It was with this memory that I began reading The Greatest, which opens with "The old man sips his coffee and watches the sun come up. It’s Sunday, his favorite day of the week. Sundays are when his grandchildren come to visit." The story goes through different activities in which grandfather and grandchildren engage in during their time together. The grandchildren think their grandfather is the greatest, although he is not sure why they feel that way. By the last sentence in the book, though, he comes to a heartwarming conclusion about why that may be.
Noticeably absent from the story is the grandmother, who is remembered lovingly through the wedding rings placed by the bedside portrait and the empty chair at the Passover seder, with only her photograph by her seat. This will resonate with those children who have lost a grandparent at some point as well. The eye-catching watercolor and gouache drawings are warm and colorful, complementing the positive energy the story conveys.
The book centers around a Jewish family. The wall hangings include a "l'chaim" one and a "Shalom" one, both written in Hebrew, as well as a portrait of a bar mitzvah boy (possibly the grandfather's son when he was a child) wearing a tallis. One scene, as mentioned above, depicts the family by the Passover seder, at which the males are wearing kippot. In another spread, although Hanukkah is not explicitly mentioned, a fully lit menorah is seen in the window on a "winter's night by the fire." Corned-beef on rye bread sandwiches, served with a sour pickle, also appear. The other scenes do not center around Jewish traditions and will be accessible to readers of all backgrounds, for example, drawing together, playing games, or singing by the piano.
The Greatest celebrates the loving relationship between grandparents and their grandchildren, easily sparking classroom discussions about students' grandparents and why they are "the greatest." And for those children not fortunate enough to grow up with grandparents, this book may inspire them to participate in one of the many Adopt-a-Grandparent programs or similar clubs in their local communities
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