The Grandmother Book: A Celebration of Family

by Jessica Burstein and Patricia Burstein

Over a year's time, a set of twins traveled across America interviewing and photographing 44 women whose first-person stories capture the spirit and diversity of grandmothers everywhere. 50 photos. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582380503
• ISBN13: 9781582380506
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Golden Books
• Length: 207 Pages
• Weight: 2.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 9.5" x 11.2"

Customer Reviews

A Grandmother for grandmothers

When I first bought this book, I was skeptical as how it would relate to my life as a working wife, mom and grandmom, but when I took the time to sit down to read it, I was flooded with emotion and thankfulness that I am as resilient as I am and able to perform the duties that I have today but for the Grace of God. Thank you authors for your research and heartfelt story telling of the first degree.

fits into the year 2000

Fasinating to read about so many women that in spite of the times and hardships they went through ,they were survivors.

The Grandmother Book--An Insider's Review

The Grandmother Book: A Celebration of Family An Inside ReviewWhen Patricia Burstein phoned to ask if she could interview me for The Grandmother Book, I immediately said "Of course!" Through past association, I'd grown to love Patricia. She's warm, affirming, practical and very down-to-earth. She knows how to ask the kind of questions that make you think. Besides, what grandmother wouldn't want to share her experience in one of the funnest, most incredible roles in life? (Though I did have to keep asking myself that question as I struggled to keep ten small grandchildren happy while Jessica Burstein took the photos.) Jessica, I discovered, is a world-class photographer. She is also Patricia's sister. The subtitle of their book-"A Celebration of Family"-not only reflects the tremendous role of grandmothers in the world, but also the indisputable synergy of these two talented siblings working together on something that really matters to both.And matter it should. This book represents the heartbeat of second generation mothering...of nurturing, loving, caring for and caring about our children's children. It invites the reader to step inside the lives and hearts of women from 30 to 117, with careers and interests as diverse as championship bareback riding, crime prevention, and psycho-oncology...from backgrounds as different as revolutionary Cuba, violent civil rights-era Arkansas and Mississippi, and the Miss America pageant...from a variety of faiths-Jewish, Muslim, Christian-and a variety of cultures- Caucasian American, Black and Native American, Asian, Latin, European-and to understand the common thread that weaves them all together as that vital part of the fabric of American society known as grandmothers. I have to admit that on reading the finished product, I felt a deep sense of reverence to be in such wonderful company. I loved the way Brenda Lee (super recording star when I was growing up) spoke of doing "everything" with her grandchildren-going to the zoo, roller-skating, visiting the aquarium. I had to laugh at the wonderful photograph of Margaret Vargas dancing with her granddaughters. My heart cried as I read Jannie Coverdale's experience of dropping two precious grandchildren off at the day care center in the Oklahoma City Federal Building...just an hour and a half before the building blew up. I had my favorites, but each story touched me, uplifted me, in some special way, and I deeply related to the honest admission of mistakes, the expression and sharing of faith, and the deep desire to help grandchildren discover and promote a wonderful, better world. Patricia's in-depth interviews and Jessica's sensitive-often compelling-photographs combine to make The Grandmother Book a truly unique work of heart and art. These stories and photos paint an intriguing picture...not only of the joy of grandmothering, but also of 20th century America and the lives that have helped shape our pathway into the new

Faces of History

I must admit I generally do not buy books of photographs. Indeed, the images may be pleasant enough but I prefer books I can read. The Grandmother Book, however, is proof that one picture can be worth a thousand words. Not only are the frozen visual moments spectacular photographs, they exude a history of America. There are grandmothers from thirty to 117 here. Jean Nichols, for example, who ran the "freakout tent" at Woodstock. Thelma Mothershed Wair -- one of the Little Rock Nine. Even the owner of the Secretariat, a horse many consider to be the greatest of all time. These are the faces of history. The mothers of our heritage. In addition to the photos, there is a great deal of supporting text which embraces the image with just the right touch of background. Unless you've never had a grandmother -- and I think everybody has had one except Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel -- this book is a must.