Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs - Module 6

Nana Upstairs &

    Nana Downstairs

By Tomie dePaola

Published by Putnam Juvenile (1998)

ISBN 9780399231087
Ages 3-7

Tale

Every Sunday Tommy and his family visit his grandmother and great-grandmother, which live in the same house. Because his great-grandmother is already ninety-four and cannot get around well anymore, he spends long periods of time with her upstairs (Nana upstairs) eating candy and talking, both tied onto chairs, side by side. When Nana upstairs passes away, Tommy feels very sad and his parents talk to him about death. Years later, an older Tommy loses his Nana downstairs too, and once more he needs to deal with the death of a loved one.  

Thoughts

This is a great book which may unveil emotions once hidden or forgotten in readers of all ages.  Talking about death with young children is not an easy task, especially when it is about loved members of the family. This book may open a path to engage in such a conversation and  help minimize the effects of such a hard loss.

About the author

From dePaola's website at http://www.tomie.com/main.html

Tomie dePaola was born on September 15, 1934 in Meriden, Connecticut. He grew up there with his father and mother, Joseph and Florence (Downey) dePaola, and his brother and sisters, Joseph, Judie and Maureen

Tomie developed a love for books at an early age probably because his mother loved books and read to Tomie every day. At the age of four, Tomie told anyone who would listen that he wanted to write stories and draw pictures for books and to sing and tap dance on the stage when he grew up. (At age 69, Tomie can say he's done all of those things!)

Drawing and dancing continued to interest Tomie during his school years. Tomie and his dancing partner, Carol Morrissey, performed throughout Meriden and elsewhere during their years in school. Tomie continued to take art classes and create art for exhibitions, theater productions, posters and many other things.

When Tomie graduated from high school, he went to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York where his twin cousins, Franny and Fuffy, had previously attended art school. In art school, he said he "spent four years learning how to draw everything - tin cans, dogs, cats, horses, trees - and I practiced and practiced."

Tomie didn't get a contract for his first book for several years after graduating from Pratt. When he did get a children's book job, it was to illustrate a science book called SOUND. A year or so later, he wrote and illustrated his first book, THE WONDERFUL DRAGON OF TIMLIN.

That was 40 years ago when Tomie was asked to illustrate SOUND.

Tomie has now illustrated over 200 books and written the stories for over 100 of those books. He has book projects scheduled for years to come.

He works in a new studio attached to a renovated 200-year-old barn in New London, New Hampshire.

Review

Booklist Reviews 1998 February #2

Ages 3-7. Originally published in 1973, this autobiographical picture book was one of the first to introduce very young children to the concept of death. Given its graceful treatment of a difficult subject, it has been a parental staple ever since, and a new generations of readers will be glad to discover this timeless tale in a lovely new edition. In an appended note, dePaola says he approached this project "as a completely new book." Thus, the format is larger than formerly, the pictures have been re-done in full color, and even the text has been slightly modified, though the story remains the same: every Sunday four-year-old Tommy's family goes to visit his grandparents. His grandmother is always busy downstairs, but his great-grandmother is always to be found in bed upstairs, because she is 94 years old. Tommy loves both of his nanas and the time he spends with them. He is desolate when his upstairs nana dies, but his mother comforts him by explaining that "she will come back in your memory whenever you think about her." Although dePaola's book is a nostalgic tribute to his own family, its theme--that not only people but our love for them survives in our memories--is universally true and important. (Reviewed February 15, 1998) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews

Activity

Give the children a coloring page with a big family tree. Ask them to draw their relatives on it; both all their living relatives and the ones they have only in their memory.