Grandfather Gandhi

Grandfather Gandhi

Author: Arun Gandhi & Bethany Hegedus

Illustration: Evan Turk

Genre: Nonfiction: Biography and Informational Book

Grade Level: 1^st – 5^th grade

“anger can illuminate. It can turn the darkness into light.”

This is a biographical book about Gandhi told by his grandson, Arun. The story takes place in Sevagram where Gandhi lives with his followers. Arun and his family go to India to visit Gandhi from South Africa. He has heard about his grandfather but has never him. Anxious at first but after meeting his grandfather Arun immediately feel at ease. He goes on about his day but finds it very hard to adjust his new life. He has to do chores for the community and study the Gujarati language which he is not very good at. He has a huge burden hanging on his shoulders for being a grandson of Gandhi, so he does not want to do anything unwise that will harm his grandfather name. The only way he lets his frustration out is through football. But one day while he is playing football with his friends. He gets pushed and lands face down, scarring his lips. Arun, fuming with anger, holds a stone on his hand and motion to throw that stone at the boy. But he stops himself because he is the grandson of Gandhi. He runs to his grandfather with tears in his eyes and upset. Gandhi then tells him that there is nothing wrong with getting angry. Arun is even more so astonished when Gandhi reveals that he too gets angry. Gandhi then precedes to explain to Arun that anger should be working to make changes and to never let anger take over life. Arun begins to understand now what it is like to live with his grandfather.To live life as a light.

The illustration is amazing. I did not notice at first but it the illustration has textured on to it. The illustrator has used a collage technique to bring the illustration to life and he has done it beautifully Majority of the pages are filled with illustration. The words are accompanied top or the bottom of the page. The sentences are not too long so it is perfect to read this book to younger children.

Thoughts:

A short story with a powerful meaning that gives the readers insight to Gandhi’s life. We have all heard about Gandhi and his work. But I personally never seek to find out what Gandhi’s family members were like. So, it was good to read a true story told by his grandson. I can read this book to students to teach them about Gandhi. The students can also use this book if they want to research about Gandhi for their projects for social studies. Great book!