Grandfather Counts

Grandfather Counts is a fictional picture book, published in 2006. It is written by award winning author Andrea Cheng and illustrated by Ange Zhang. The story follows a young english speaking girl, Helen who is biracial through her journey of learning to bond with her Chinese speaking grandfather. Helen's Gong Gong (Grandfather) comes to the united stated to live with her family. Helen is very anxious because she does not know how she will communicate with Gong Gong because she only speaks english. Gong Gong joins Helen outside her home, where she is watching the trains pass, and beings to count the trains in Chinese. Gong Gong teaches Helen to count in Chinese, and then Helen teaches Gong Gong to count the trains in English. With each other's love and guidance Gong Gong and Helen form a very special bond. This is a special story that highlights transcultural relationships and overcoming obstacles through love and language.

This book is a must read! The story is touching and the soft illustrations depict the characters perfectly. Students and teachers alike will benefit from this story. It is a great way for students to enjoy learning about diversity within society and the different forms of communication available. Teachers will enjoy the message this book entails, and the many activities that can be performed with the students after reading Grandfather Counts. This multicultural story is one everyone will love!

After reading the book, encourage group discussion with the students to allow them to reflect and share their thoughts and interpretation of the story through reader response questions. For example:

• What did you learn from this story? How can you incorporate what you learned in this story to a real life situation?
• Do you think Gong Gong and Helen will continue to teach each other? If so, What things do you think they will teach each other?
• How would you communicate with Gong Gong if you were Helen?
• How did the trains help Helen and Gong Gong form a special bond? Why were the trains so important to Helen?
• Helen is biracial, she is half Chinese and half Caucasian. Does this make you think that Helen should know both the Chinese and English language?
• What is the most important thing you learned from reading this story? How did it make you feel?
• What are some things you and your grandparents do that makes your relationship special?

A fun education activity that can be done with students:

• Ask the students to imagine they were making the cover of the book Grandfather Counts. After that, allow each student to illustrate their own picture of Helen and Gong Gong. On each students picture ask them to write three words that in their opinion describes the meaning of the story.

Andrea Chang has written a wide variety of award winning books. If you and your students enjoyed this one, you should check out some of the author's other books! Some examples include:

• The year of the Baby
• The year of the Book
• Shanghai Message
• When the Bees Fly Home
• Brushing Mom's Hair
• Only One Year
• The Lemon Sisters
• Anna the Bookbinder

• Cheng, A., & Zhang, A. (2000). Grandfather counts. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books.