Rebecca loves to visit her grandmother, with her wonderful apartment - a bed decorated with fancy pillows! a bathtub with clawed feet! an adorable kitty-cat! - and her fascinating stories about life in the old country. But when Grandma recognizes an old friend while she and Rebecca are out shopping, and makes a public display - shouted greetings, lots of excited talk in Yiddish - Rebecca is embarrassed, and then ashamed of her embarrassment. Luckily, Grandma has one more story to share...

Highly recommended by two online friends, Apple Pie and Onions is a delightful picture-book exploration of a common childhood experience: that of being embarrassed by one's elders. Caseley handles this issue with compassion, demonstrating how such feelings are not at all incompatible with love and respect for the elder in question, and how they can be overcome with understanding. Her watercolor and pencil illustrations have a charming, folksy feeling to them, and although the specific cultural milieu here is Jewish, and the setting urban, the story is one to which children of all backgrounds can relate. ( )

Goes well with Ira Sleeps Over, although it's not quite as good. Tackles the experience of being embarrassed by our families.

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