Stepping Out With Grandma Mac
illustrated by Angelo
Orchard Books/Scholastic, 2001
ISBN: 978-0-531-30320-7

From the book

"Her cold words
used to make me shiver...
Then, after a while,
I'd notice how a light
Switches on in her eyes
Every time she sees me...
So I figure
Grandma's chilly words
Aren't brick walls
Made to keep me out.
They're more like picket fences
With gaps wide enough
For me to squeeze through—
All I have to do
Is try."

from Stepping Out with Grandma Mac
© 2001 by Nikki Grimes

Teaching Guides
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Reviews
"There are no hugs and kisses...from Grandma Mac. Her words are cold and gruff, and they can hurt. But these poems in her 10-year-old granddaughter's voice reveal how much the girl resembles her grandmother: scrappy and strong, adventurous and reserved, irritable and intimate...The girl longs for Grandma...to touch her...all through the book there are images of hands. In one of the most beautiful poems, the girl secretly tries on Grandma's gloves: 'the fabric fingers/Worn and warm/All loyal to the form/Of work-weary hands.' By the last poem there is a surprising discovery as physical and eloquent as any loving embrace." Booklist, starred review

"A rewarding poetry experience." School Library Journal

Awards
Notable Social Studies Trade Book
Bank Street College Best Book of the Year
100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
Junior Library Guild Selection