November is National Homelessness Awareness Month, a perfect time to highlight a recent Perfect Picture Book featuring a homeless person.
Title: Not Pop-Pop
Written By: Angela DeGroot
Illustrated By: MacKenzie Haley
Publisher/Date: WaterBrook, an imprint of Random House/2024
Suitable for Ages: 4-8
Themes/Topics: homelessness, empathy, library
Opening:
Yay! It’s library day.
The doors SWISH open.
I slide my old books down the chute.
THONK!
Brief Synopsis: A young boy visiting the library with his mother thinks he sees his grandfather, but instead he meets a homeless man who looks and sounds like his grandfather.
Links to Resources:
· Check out the back matter for ways to help those experiencing housing insecurity;
· Try these empathy-building activities.
Why I Like this Book:
As Not Pop-Pop begins, a young boy, Brian, and his mother enter the library. It’s clear at the outset that this is a favorite destination for this book-loving duo. After choosing a book and settling in a favorite spot, Brian thinks he sees his beloved grandfather, Pop-Pop. But the man is not Brian’s grandfather. In the illustrations readers see that the man is carrying what seems to be a pillow and other items that one wouldn’t normally expect to see in a picture book set in the library.
As the story progresses, Brian encounters George, the homeless man, several more times, and readers experience Brian learning more about George. Finally, Brian realizes that George may not be his Pop-Pop but he is someone’s Pop-Pop. I love how Brian slowly comes to this realization himself despite hearing disparaging remarks about homeless people from a few adults in the library.
Not Pop-Pop is a lovely story to read at home, in the classroom, and most especially in the library, and an important resource to discuss housing insecurity and the people who experience it with our children.
A Note about Craft:
DeGroot relates this story using first-person point-of-view which brings immediacy to the action and helps readers step into the shoes of the narrator as he meets George, the homeless man. She also sets the story in the library, a safe space and community resource often visited by those experiencing housing insecurity, which makes the encounters between Brian and George seem more plausible.
This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!
*The author shared a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
Wander, Ponder, Write 