Until I read it to my children last night, I had never even seen this book, but it is definitely a new favorite. Patricia MacLachlan has a gift for describing the world through the eyes of a child, and this book is no exception. The story beautifully introduces to children the concepts of empathy and understanding the unique perspectives of others.
John’s Grandpa is blind, and experiences the world in a completely different way than John does. The sun wakes him with its warm rays instead of its light. He eats breakfast by turning his plate into the face of a clock. He sees faces with his fingers and identifies birds by the sound of their songs.
John doesn’t understand how Grandpa sees until he spends a summer day and night with his grandparents. Grandpa teaches him to close his eyes and listen for the little sounds around him, like Grandma clinking dishes in the kitchen. John learns to take deep breaths and identify every smell, like eggs and toast and marigolds. He learns that running his fingers like water over faces paints the same picture his eyes do.
There are some things that Grandpa can’t smell, hear, or touch, like color or light. While he learns about how Grandpa sees, John shares those special things that his eyes see with Grandpa. Together they experience the world around them in their own special way.
The Word Worker 