Hello, friends! Our book today is Hey Grandude!, written by Paul McCartney (yes, THAT one) and illustrated by Kathryn Durst, a playful adventure tale with a magical twist.

On a dreary, humdrum day, Lucy, Tom, Em, and Bob are bored and listless. That is, until their grandpa – affectionately called “Grandude” – appears with a handful of postcards and a compass. Inviting his “Chillers” (grandkids) along for an adventure, Grandude is able to use the compass to whisk all five of them away to a sunny tropical beach, to play and sun the day away by the shore. That is, until an invasion of punchy crabs appears. Staying positive, Grandude uses postcard-and-compass to transport them to a dusty cowboy frontier, but it’s not long until their adventure there is interrupted as well! Third time’s the charm? Or perhaps not! No matter though – Grandude is there to get the kids back home safely and get them settled in for bed after a day of adventure and peril… before taking a well-earned rest himself.

Strange yet sweet. The legendary McCartney’s first children’s book hits the mark in a lot of ways: the series of misadventures are entertaining for little ones, and the gentle care of Grandude towards his Chillers at the end will warm adult hearts. A few of the jokes fall flat, but the dialogue and text is paced well and fun to read. The illustrations are especially standout, including the nice choice to make the family members racially diverse; a small detail, but a wonderfully welcome one. The action scenes are particularly well-done, managing to be exciting and compelling without veering scary. The length is okay; better for slightly more patient bookworms, but not overly long. JJ enjoyed this one, and we recommend it. Baby Bookworm approved!