The Great and the Grand

As a mother and her son travel to see her elderly father, Fox contrasts the lives of the baby (“The New”) and his grandfather (“The Old”). Robbins’s realistic paintings highlight happy and somber moments as mother and child make their way and the grandfather awaits their arrival. In one pair of images, the child stabs at his food with a fork (“The New holds on”), while the older man visits a gravestone (“The Old is learning to let go”). Plainspoken about the reality of life’s joyful and painful moments, it’s a book most likely to find its audience among adult readers. Ages 5–9. (Oct.)