Category: Children Publisher: Beaver's Pond Press
ISBN-10: 1592981208
Type: Non-Fiction
Pages: 32
Copyright: October 2005
ISBN-13: 9781592981205
Meet Opa and Oma, grandparents who have shared a long life together on their farm. Once they nurtured seven children, a variety of farm animals, and rolling fields with their love and hard work. Now they teach their grandchildren about the wonderful ways you can grow, not only on the farm, but anywhere you live. After fifty years on the same farm, in the same home, Opa and Oma are still growing in life...together.
Author Patrick "Packy" Mader and illustrator Andrew Holmquist collaborate on a children's picture book, Opa & Oma Together, full of love and positive messages with a rural setting. Opa is a German word for "grandpa", Oma is a German word meaning "grandma". It is an intergenerational book that is read at Grandparents' Day programs, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, anniversary celebrations, and school and library programs. It is especially popular with people with connections to farming and to people with a German heritage.
Excerpt
"Opa and Oma not only watched the plants grow in the fields. They not only helped nurture and shape the crops and newborn calves.
"They also watched their seven children gow on the farm and in the home. They helped nurture and shape the lives of their children."
Professional Reviews
Opa & Oma Together
Anyone with rural ties will savor Opa & Oma Together, a picture book that captures the essence of live on a small Midwest family farm. In simplistic style, this title delivers a tug-at-the-heartstrings message...While written for young children, Opa & Oma Together certainly appeals to all ages.
Opa & Oma Together
Opa & Oma Together by Patrick Mader is a lovely picture book about grandparents as they grow old together on their farm. Mader says that Opa is the German word for grandpa and Oma is German for grandma. The book shows glimpses of this couple's life, from when they first moved to their farm and raised animals and crops to when they had children and fed their hungry brood. We see them alone and when the children are gone and later with a houseful when grandchildren begin to appear. We see Opa leaving his tractor in the barn and only coaxing growth out of a fine vegetable garden, while Oma continues to bake and quilt for grandchildren now.
Andrew Holmquist's illustrations bring this couple to life, through all of the seasns of their time together. The paintings could be from any farm in the heartland of this country, but are very reminiscent of areas in the Great Plains. The most touching painting is the last page, a close-up of Opa and Oma holding hands. There are wrinkles, Oma's gold wedding ring, and Opa's thumb even sports a bandaid, a testament to his legacy of hard work.
Opa & Oma Together is a tender look at companionship and a life committed to each other.
Myshelf.com, Jamie Franz, reviewer
Opa & Oma Together
I liked the way the little boy was disappearing at the edge of the picture on the cover--leading you into the book and its story--made you want to follow him to see what he was up to. I really think this is an outstanding picture book. The large, clear illustrations support and accompany the story and offer extra interest for read alouds. I was drawn to the tiny illustrations under the text and feel they added greatly to the story. The changes in the appearances of the characters in the story are in perfect sync with the illustrations and make it a most satisfying reading experience. What a wonderful example of life and its changes and how life changes can make life different but still beautiful and rewarding.
Learning Explorations, Barbara Geiger, President and reviewer
