Grandparenting
The library is a great place to explore with your grandchildren.
- Join us for storytimes and other free-of-charge programs. Browse our children's event listings to see what's on.
- Share your favourite book from when you were a child. Jog your memory by browsing our lists of classic picture books or classic novels.
- Help your grandchildren find suitable books to read with you or on their own by browsing our book lists by age or grade.
- Discover great stories to hear or view online with your grandchild.
- Explore our links to safe and fun online games for kids.
- Link to websites and lists of books to help your grandchild with homework.
- Find parenting resources, including links to parenting information in 19 different languages.
- Tell your teen-aged grandchildren about our online teen resources.
More information on this page:
- Resources in your first language
- Books about grandparenting
- Resources for grandparents raising grandchildren
- Picture books about children being raised by grandparents
Resources in your first language
- Your grandchild will benefit when you speak and read in your first language. Your First Language: A Precious Gift Gift to Your Child, a one-page guide available in 25 languages, explains how.
- Borrow children's books in world languages to share with your grandchild.
- Borrow a My First Language Kit. Available in 25 languages, these kits contain six picture books, a translated parent resource guide as well as music CDs and informational DVDs as available.
Books about grandparenting
Most books about grandparenting can be found at 306.8745. For other titles, search the library catalogue with keywords: grandparent, grandchildren, grandmother, grandfather.
Selected titles
The Grandparents Handbook
Elizabeth LaBan
Offers newly minted grandmas and grandpas practical advice, inspirational suggestions and activities as well as hundreds of other nuggets of entertaining and useful information.
The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting
Doug Hewitt
This practical guide will assist grandparents looking for activities that are both meaningful and enjoyable – for them as well as for the grandkids.
Grandparenting a Child With Special Needs
Charlotte E. Thompson
From coming to terms with a diagnosis, to accessing financial and legal resources, Thompson gives clear, sensible advice to grandparents on the medical, emotional and practical aspects of caring for a child with special needs.
Grandparenting
Grandparents' Association
Filled with fun activities for granparents to enjoy with their grandchildren, this Teach Yourself guide emphasizes strategies for taking part in grandchildren’s lives without interfering.
Great Ideas for Grandkids!
Peggy Epstein
150 creative and low-cost ways to entertain, education and enjoy grandchildren without setting foot in a toy store.
Intentional Grandparenting: A Boomer's Guide
Peggy Edwards and Mary Jane Sterne
Provides readers with ten child-centred principles to guide their decision-making as modern grandparents.
So You're Going to Be a Grandma!
Lyn Johnston
Readers of For Better or For Worse will recognize new Grandma Elly as well as her son, Mike, and his wife, Deanna, in this celebration of the universal love of a grandchild.
Resources for grandparents raising grandchildren
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: a Legal Guide
Kristen Holten
Helps Canadian grandparents understand and navigate the legal complexities involved in raising grandchildren without a parent in the home.
Living With Your Grandchildren: a Guide for Grandparents
Jennifer Lee
Addresses the legal, educational, parenting and social challenges of parenting in Canada the second time around.
Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
Barbara Whittington [and others]
A resource booklet developed by the Parent Support Services Society of BC. Download a copy [PDF]
Parent Support Services Society of BC
Programs and services offered for grandparents raising grandchildren. Grandparents Raising Grandchildren support line: 1-877-474-9777
Children's books about grandparents raising kids
Christmas in the Country
Cynthia Rylant
A young girl growing up in the country with her grandparents enjoys a simple but enchanting Christmas.
Grandparents Raising Kids
Rae Simons
When grandparents take in their grand children to raise, they have some difficulties most families don't have. But they have the wisdom and experience they've gained from raising one set of children already and this can help. The families in this book have had both good and bad experiences, but they've learned a gread deal through them.
Kele's Secret
Tololwa M. Mollel
A young Tanzanian boy named Yoanes overcomes his fear of the scariest place on his grandparents' farm, the spooky shed, when he follows Kele, his grandmother's hen, to see where she lays her eggs.
Let's Talk About Living with a Grandparent
Susan Kent
Discusses various reasons for living with a grandparent, the benefits of such at arrangement and how to help out at home.
Serefina Under the Circumstances
Phyllis Theroux
Serefina's imagination makes her destined for greatness, according to her grandmother with whom she lives, but sometimes it leads her into trouble as well.
Sometimes It's Grandmas and Grandpas, Not Mommies and Daddies
Gayle Byrne
A young girl who lives with her grandparents experiences warmth, love and closeness, even when she wonders why her parents are not raising her.