by Moe Zilla

Created on: March 14, 2010

It's a realistic story about real people, and a small-town parade Author Katie Clark even dedicates the book to a woman named Bea Hudson, calling her "my inspiration." The book explains that "Grandma" is in "the garbage business… She ran the office: answering the phone, opening the mail, and counting the money." Her three sons drive her garbage trucks, and they're all excited about the upcoming 4th of July holiday.

The book draws its humor from the simple everyday problems of real people, and the story opens with a funny picture of a tired Grandma being woken by a phone call. (At first she mistakes the ringing phone for her alarm clock, until she discovers it's a phone call from her son.) The word "Rrring!" appears as a separate paragraph three times on the page.  And then the next page starts with the word "Ah-choo!" Because her son has caught a cold…

Each son has a cold, it turns out. And Grandma scolds each son in turn, lovingly ending the call by warning them to use a handkerchief or to cover their mouth when they cough. But everyone is also getting some attention from their pets, thanks to illustrator Amy Huntington. Though the pets don't appear in the text, she'd decided to give Grandma a nosy cat for more humor. And the first sick son gets a wincing pet Labrador - while the second one lies in bed with a sorrowful basset hound…

When son number three turns up sick, Grandma tells her grandson that she's made a fateful decision. "It looks like we've got a job to do, Billy," she says. She doesn't want the townfolk to run their proud parade past uncollected garbage. But unfortunately, Grandma doesn't seem to know how to drive a truck.

You could argue about whether this story sends the wrong message to children about women drivers. But if you can overlook that, the book arrives at a suitably funny climax. Grandma rolls over a mailbox, and through a neighbor's rose bush She crashes through a clothesline, and even a neighbor's flagpole (which for the 4th was displaying an American flag). Then she swerves onto Main Street - and inadvertently finds himself in front of a marching band. By the end of the day, all the debris on the truck makes it look like a parade float.  And the judge's panel has awarded her first prize...

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