Just Grandma and Me by Mercer Mayer

I never had any Mercer Mayer/Little Critter books as a kid. But I love this book and these little characters nonetheless. To me they feel so classic and nostalgic even without having had a long personal history with the books. That is quite a feat in itself!

Just Grandma and Me is about Little Critter's day at the beach with Grandma. In all honesty I think this book captures the feeling of youth in a bottle. Something about the tone and the perspective (Little Critter tells the story), mixed with the charming, detailed art which doesn't miss a trick. Add these emotive characters that are full of expression and personality and all this adds up to a real feeling of authenticity in this book and story. I just can't think of a more apt word to describe it!

>See some art from the book here

They say it is really hard to do a kid's book right. I can tell a lot of work went into this one. A classic!

This book is one in a huge series of Little Critter books, so if this one looks good to you, there's plenty more. This book is a small paperback and is very affordable ($4 new on Amazon, and you could get it even cheaper new or used through Amazon Resellers).