The heart and soul of Grandpa Green is bittersweet, and the color palette matches perfectly.Ĭlear your schedule for the rest of your day, cause you will spend it all in the last illustration spread of this book, remembering Grandpa Green’s important things.

Visually, this palette richly envelops the garden, and symbolically, the story is all about one Grandpa Green.įramed in a more vibrant or varied color palette, this story would have a different appeal. Splashes of red punctuate a few notable moments, but muted greens remain paramount. Never too bright and cheery, the palette perfectly sets the melancholic, yet comforting tone of Grandpa Green. Lane Smith created his world in a monochromatic palette of garden greens. Or at least not in an I-just-had-an-amazing-east-coast-weekend-and-a-brutal-flight-back-west-to-real-life state of exhaustion. I would recommend reading it with a box of tissues nearby. This is such a tender story about life and love and imagination and aging. Sometimes his memories are only in the greenery, but his sweet grandson bravely walks through that garden in order to fully know his grandfather. Grandpa Green’s memories are carved into his garden, and his great grandkid, the storyteller, learns all about him through his masterpieces.

Lane Smith PLUS an elephant on the cover? I’ll be that melting puddle in the corner, don’t mind me.īefore computers or cell phones or television.

Grandpa green book