A young boy is delighted when his grandmother and her dog, Sunny, move in with him and his mother. Grandma gives the boy lots of attention, teaching him how to do jigsaw puzzles, listening to him as he reads out loud, and taking him to the playground and pushing him on the swings. As he soars into the air, Grandma tells him, “Touch your toes to the stars.” When he says he can’t see any stars, she replies, “Even though you can’t see them, they are there. Millions of them. They never go away.” Each evening when Grandma puts her grandson to bed, she says a rhyme, “I love you to Mars/I love you to the stars/I love you always,/wherever you are.”
Though Grandma seems healthy, she becomes increasingly forgetful, unable to read words correctly and misplacing her things. When the boy’s mother takes Grandma to the doctor, they receive a difficult diagnosis: dementia. In time, Grandma becomes unable to remain with the boy and his mother and she moves to a nursing facility to be cared for. When the boy and his mother visit Grandma, it’s the boy’s turn to recite the love poem to her: “I love you to Mars/I love you to the stars/I love you always,/wherever you are.”
Illustrator Robert Sauber’s warm, homey illustrations complement this compassionate, loving story of a family dealing with a life-changing diagnosis. Questions for caregivers to share with children are included at the end of the book and will help them understand how God’s love is always there for us, no matter our circumstances. (Kregel Children’s Books)
About the Author
Sonya VanderVeen Feddema is a freelance writer and a member of Covenant CRC in St. Catharines, Ontario.