Our library trip this week led us to bagels and grandpas, which is ideal for someone like me who has been missing her grandparents lately.

For me-

This short novella by Fredrik Beckmann- a new favorite of mine. In the introduction, the author says, “This is a story about memories and about letting go. It’s a love letter and a slow farewell between a man and his grandson, between a dad and his boy… I never meant for you to read it, to be quite honest. I wrote it because I was trying to sort out my own thoughts… But it turned into a small tale of how I’m dealing with slowly losing the greatest minds I know, about missing someone who is still here, and how I wanted to explain it all to my children.”

There isn’t much more that I want to say about this, except that I loved it and it’s a story I’ll think about going forward, and one I’ll reread from time to time.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes within the story-

“He always wants to know everything about school, but not like other adults, who only want to know if Noah is behaving. Grandpa wants to know if the school is behaving. It hardly ever is.”

“Our teacher made us write a story about what we want to be when we’re big,” Noah tells him.

“What did you write?”

“I wrote that I wanted to concentrate on being little first.”

“That’s a very good answer.”

“Isn’t it? I would rather be old than a grown-up. All grown-ups are angry, it’s just children and old people who laugh.”

“Did you write that?”

“Yes.”

“What did your teacher say?”

“She said I hadn’t understood the task.”

“And what did you say?”

“I said she hadn’t understood my answer.”

“I love you,” Grandpa manages to say with closed eyes.

“But the universe gave you both Noah. He’s the bridge between you. That’s why we get the chance to spoil our grandchildren, because by doing that we’re apologizing to our children.”

For my daughter-

The story of a grandfather who delivers bagels to his grandson every week, but who has an accident and misses the weekly delivery. It focuses mainly on the importance of stepping up and meeting needs for the people you love. It is also about how important ritual and traditions can be in our relationships.

This book made us buy far too many bagels than were necessary last week. We recommend!