Grandmother School

Rina Singh, illustrated by Ellen Rooney

Image | Grandmother School

(Orca Book Publishers)

It's never too late to learn.

Every morning, a young girl walks her grandmother to the Aajibaichi Shala, the school that was built for the grandmothers in her village to have a place to learn to read and write. The narrator beams with pride as she drops her grandmother off with the other aajis to practice the alphabet and learn simple arithmetic.
A moving story about family, women and the power of education — when Aaji learns to spell her name you'll want to dance along with her.
Women in countless countries continue to endure the limitations of illiteracy. Unjust laws have suppressed the rights of girls and women and kept many from getting an education and equal standing in society. Based on a true story from the village of Phangane, India, this brilliantly illustrated book tells the story of the grandmothers who got to go to school for the first time in their lives. (From Orca Book Publishers)
Rina Singh is an India-born Canadian author from Toronto. She has written more than a dozen books for children, including 111 Trees, Diwali Lights, A Forest of Stories and Moon Tales.
Ellen Rooney is a designer, artist and children's book illustrator from B.C. She also illustrated the picture books Her Fearless Run by Kim Chaffee and Dusk Explorers by Lindsay Leslie.