cover image Grandpa's Face

Grandpa's Face

Eloise Greenfield. Philomel Books, $16.99 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-399-21525-4

To Tamika, her grandfather's face tells her everything about him, changing from ``glad to worried to funny to sad.'' But one day, when Tamika watches her grandfather practicing lines for a play, she sees his face change into a face she had never seen beforea mean, cold, angry face that scares her; she is afraid that he will look at her like that. Naughty as can be, Tamika tests the limits of her grandfather's patience, but still that face does not appear. When he finds out why Tamika has misbehaved, her grandfather explains that the face she saw was just a pretend face. With eloquence and a penetrating glimpse of the fears of children, Greenfield has written a moving story about the reliability of love. Cooper, in his first picture book, creates family scenes of extraordinary illumination. He reinforces in the pictures the feelings of warmth and affection that exists between generations. Ages 4-7. (Nov.)