| Family |
| Social Themes |
| Depression & Mental Illness |
| Imagination & Play |
| Juvenile Fiction |
| Multigenerational |
Summary
Summary
Key Selling Points
Now available in paperback for the first time. A Plan for Pops follows a young child who tries to cheer up their grandparent after an accident. This book features same-sex grandparents, a loving intergenerational family and a unique STEM component with the creation of a Rube Goldberg machine. Like the author's bestselling picture book Angus All Aglow, the text conveys a powerful message of love, togetherness and gentle healing. A Plan for Pops was shortlisted for the Blue Spruce Award and was an OLA Best Bets and ALA Rainbow Top Ten selection. Heather Smith's picture book The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden received four starred reviews and won the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award and the Freeman Book Award for Children's Literature on East and Southeast Asia. A Plan for Pops is also available in French as Une idée pour Papi (9781459822054).Author Notes
Heather Smith is the author of several picture books, including the award-winning The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden. Her middle-grade novel Ebb and Flow was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award, and her YA novel The Agony of Bun O'Keefe won the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award, the OLA Forest of Reading White Pine Award and was shortlisted for the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award and the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People. Originally from Newfoundland, Heather now lives in Waterloo, Ontario, with her family.
Brooke Kerrigan has loved drawing ever since she was a little girl, so it seemed only natural that she would grow up to be an artist. Of all her creative endeavors, illustrating children's books is her favorite. Brooke has illustrated over 10 picture books, including design-award-winning Fishermen Through & Through and the Blue Spruce honor book The Little Boy Who Lived Down the Drain. Born in Toronto, she currently lives with her husband in the French Alps.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Lou visits Grandad and Pops every Saturday, and each week, the boy joins them in their unique ways of celebrating the day. Grandad likes reading the news and creating inventions with Lou, while Pops enjoys rock-and-roll videos and creating interesting culinary concoctions. Lou is happy, until one day Pops has a bad fall and must use a wheelchair. He begins to act less like himself, worrying Lou and Grandad. Together they create an idea to make Pops feel better and to enjoy one another's company once more. Smith has created a heartwarming story about family relationships and how to help loved ones through difficult transitions. Each of the adults helps Lou understand the world a bit better, and Lou himself struggles with his emotions before creating a perfect solution. The story is consistent with the French language edition, with only a few cultural sound effects and expressions changing between languages. The text is legible and simple, with no difficult vocabulary, and is assisted beautifully by Kerrigan's artful illustrations. Each picture provides little details that let readers better understand the personalities of Lou, Grandad, and Pops. They also assist the story greatly by expressing some complex emotions through drawing, especially after Pops falls and life changes. VERDICT A beautiful and uplifting book to help children learn how to handle challenges and help others; a great choice for intergenerational picture book shelves.-Margaret Kennelly, -iSchool at Urbana-Champaign, IL © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Lou loves spending time with his two grandfathers, Grandad and Pops, including building elaborate contraptions involving pulleys and ramps. When Pops becomes sad and withdrawn after suffering a fall, Lou is determined to cheer him up. The combination of a new contraption, the playing of Pops's favorite music, and an actual ramp for his wheelchair does the trick. A warm intergenerational story accompanied by expressive illustrations full of engaging detail. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Lou visits Grandad and Pops every Saturday and learns a lot from their radically alternative interests, until an accident disrupts the family's happy routine.Grandad likes learning how things work, and Pops enjoys the spicier things in life. Lou continually goes between them, equally validating their perspectives. Once Pops is asleep after listening to rock-and-roll, Lou and Grandad work on perfecting their (unnamed) Rube Goldberg machine that produces an aerial burst of paper cranes. One Saturday, Pops, already frail, suffers a fall, after which he must permanently use a wheelchair. Over the following weeks, Lou takes up the mission of getting a depressed Pops to come out of his room. Smith conscientiously relates how "the three Psperseverance, persistence and patience"apply to many aspects of life. Kerrigan's digital art couples quick pencil outlines with gentle and colorful watercolor washes, subtly mirroring the two grandparents' personalities. Facial expressions and body language convey mood well. On the page turn when Pops falls, Kerrigan utilizes minimalism to successfully convey the incident and the sharp emotion it elicits. The ending is happily resolved but abrupt. Rachel Martinez's translation for the companion French edition, Une ide pour Papi, is mostly verbatim but edits to two Ps, "la persvrance et la patience," forgiven perhaps with the three words' similar meanings, even in English. Granddad presents black and both Pops and Lou present white.A positive and realistic representation of both a wheelchair user and an elderly, interracial gay male couple. (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
