This coming Sunday marks Grandparents Day – a national holiday that promotes honoring and respecting your grandparents as people who have gained wisdom and strength over their long lives.

When President Jimmy Carter officially started National Grandparents Day in 1979, he said, “Grandparents are our continuing tie to the near-past, to the events and beliefs and experiences that so strongly affect our lives and the world around us. Whether they are our own or surrogate grandparents who fill some of the gaps in our mobile society, our senior generation also provides our society a link to our national heritage and traditions. We all know grandparents whose values transcend passing fads and pressures, and who possess the wisdom of distilled pain and joy. Because they are usually free to love and guide and befriend the young without having to take daily responsibility for them, they can often reach out past pride and fear of failure and close the space between generations.”

Don’t Call MeGrandma by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson (2016) encapsulates the holiday’s sentiments and is a great introduction to forming a relationship and learning history from a grandparent.

The graphic novel series Cici: AFairy’s Tale by Cori Doerrfeld and Tyler Page also depicts the healthy relationship between a granddaughter and her abuela—as well as some magic!—and how the bond that skips a generation can be different from a mother/daughter relationship.

All of these books are available in print and digital formats from www.lernerbooks.com.