Dancing with Daisy

Gr 1-3–Growing old may be inevitable, but a good story makes everything more entertaining. A young boy is looking through his grandfather’s photo album on a chilly fall day beside a large body of water. He comes across a picture of his grandfather on a boat when he was much younger, and asks him about it. Instead of sharing stories of fishing or leisure, the grandfather tells him about Daisy, a spirited storm that stole his youth and left him in his current gnarled, wrinkled state. Though Daisy even took most of the grandfather’s hearing, he notes that it is worth being closer to his grandson as they are conversing. Coates uses the construct of the tall tale to introduce young children to the concept of aging. Colorful, detailed illustrations bring the landscape and feel of a northern sea to life for readers. Medium-length text and challenging words make this book ideally suited to being read by a caregiver to a child; together, the text and images create a delightfully engaging tableau.