Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs (Picture Puffin Books)

Tomie dePaola is a wonderful memoir writer. In this wonderfully heartwarming memoir, he describes his two nanas that live in the same household. This is a great book to use as a part of an author study.

The book relates a childhood story of a child that is close to his Grandmother and Great Grandmother who live together. When his Great Grandmother (Nana Upstairs) passes away he has to find a way to deal with his grief.

I enjoyed the book because it looked at loss from the perspective of a child and

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would relate well for all kids that loose someone close.

An extention Idea for this book could be to have kids talk about their own experiences with loss and see how it relates to the text of the story.

A group activity using a posterboard with the main ideas of the theme written on it and pictures of scenes in the book that the students must match up to the theme would reinforce and identify shortfalls in how the story was comprehended.

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A worthy holder of the classic tag, reissued in full colour to celebrate the 20th anniversary. The book tells the true story of young Tommy and his best friend, his great-grandmother Nana Upstairs. Tommy's mother explains that Nana Upstairs will never come back "[e]xcept in your memory. She will

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come back in your memory whenever you think about her." When Tommy loses Nana Upstairs and, years later, Nana Downstairs, he sees a falling star - "Perhaps ... a kiss from Nana Upstairs."

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The book is story about a boy that is close to his Grandmother and Great Grandmother who live together. When his Great Grandmother (Nana Upstairs) passes away he has to find a way to deal with his grief. I enjoyed the book because it looked at loss from the perspective of a child and would relate

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well for all kids that loose someone close.

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Great for grades k-3. Illustrations drawn with water colors. Great for teaching kids death. Four-year-old Tommy enjoys his relationship with both his grandmother and great-grandmother, but eventually learns to face their inevitable death.

Is a good book for children to understand death and dealing with losses of loved ones.

This book is about a little boy who has a grandmother and great grandmother that live together. Because the great grandmother is always upstairs in bed, he calls her nana upstairs and calls his grandmother nana downstairs. He loves both of his nanas and tries to be just like them. His nana upstairs

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passes away and his mother explains death to him. He grieves and when he sees a shooting star, his mother tells him that it is from nana upstairs. When nana downstairs grows old and dies, he sees another shooting star. Since they are both in Heaven, he says that they are now both nana upstairs.

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Tommy visits his grandmothers every Sunday. On Nana lives downstairs and the other upstairs, which is where their names come from. Tommy has to deal with the death of Upstairs Nana as a child. He does so very gracefully and then again with his other Nana as a young man. The last line is very

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poignant in the story which says "Now you are both Nana Upstairs, he thought."

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Tommy refers to his grandmother as Nana downstairs and his great-grandmother as Nana upstairs because of where they spend most of their time. He spends Sundays with his Nana's. When Nana upstairs dies, Tommy is very sad. When Nana downstairs dies, Tommy decides they are both Nana Upstairs.

Ok. I actually started to cry at the end of this book. And I'm a 30 year old guy. Pretty good book about dealing with death and it's inevibility. Little Tommy visits Nana upstairs and Nana downstairs and loves his time with them. But one day Nana Upstairs dies. And her room is empty when Tommy runs

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up to visit. It's a tearjerker if you've ever lost someone. It's even sadder now that I know Tomie de Paola wrote it based on personal experience...

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This is a story of Tomie growing up with his two different grandmothers, one who lived upstairs and one who lived downstairs. He had a special relationship with each of them. It deals with the loss of family members from a child's perspective. Many children will be able to relate to this story.

This book is a story of a young boy who has a grandmother who is bed-ridden and stays upstairs, and another grandmother who lives with her. He calls them Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs. The boy loses Nana Upstairs at a young age and has to deal with that. When Nana Downstairs passes away, he

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makes a comment the they are both, "Nana Upstairs".

I loved this book as a child and still love it today. It is a great book to teach children about dealing with death and that death is part of life. It is a good book to present to a child that has lost someone.

When I read this to children, I will have them first tell me about someone they have lost in their life. When the book is over, I will speculate with them what the boy meant when he said they were "both Nana Upstairs".

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This is a touching story about a boy dealing with the loss of his great grandmother and then his grandmother. This would be a great catalyst to a discussion about death, grief and loss.

Touching story of a little boy with a Nana who lived downstairs and a Great-Nana who lived upstairs. He loved them both. Then Nana upstairs dies and he is sad.

Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs by Tomie dePaola is about a boy who is close to his grandmother ("Nana downstairs") and his great-grandmother ("Nana upstairs").

Tommy likes to eat lunch with Nana upstairs and listen to her stories. She's very old and very frail and one day she dies. Tommy has to

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come to terms with losing Nana Upstairs and how his life will change now that there is just one Nana.

The book is a very gentle but matter of fact approach to the temporary nature of life and the ever changing aspects of families. The book ends with a brief glimpse at Tommy all grown up to see how he and his family has changed.

The book brought back memories of the routine my grandmother and I had when I was little. We would frequently go to Norwalk to visit my great grandmother who was too ill to live at home any more. We would visit her first and then go on the rounds to visit her friends. There was a lady who would always save her banana for me and another one who made dogs out yarn tied to frames made from bent coat hangers.

And then when I was about seven we stopped going because my great grandmother had died. Now I'm grown up, have my children and my grandmother has passed away too.

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Its about a boy who has two grandmothers. One is his great grandmother and one is his grandmother. He is told that his great grandmother will no longer be with him. He struggles with this.

Ages: 4-5
Source: ECE classroom at Pierce

Boy named Tommy, visits nana upstairs (great-grandma) and nana downstairs (grandma) every Sunday. One day Tommy's mother tells him nana upstairs won't be there anymore, Tommy has to struggle to understand what it means to loose someone he loves.
Ages: 3 and up
Source: Pierce County Library

Boy named Tommy, visits nana upstairs (great-grandma) and nana downstairs (grandma) every Sunday. One day Tommy's mother tells him nana upstairs won't be there anymore, Tommy has to struggle to understand what it means to loose someone he loves.
Ages: 3 -5
Source: ECED&160

This is a touching story of a boy who visits his nana downstairs (his grandmother) and his nana upstairs (his great-grandmother) every Sunday, only to have both nanas "go upstairs" by the end of the story. I am glad to have stumbled on it, however, because I think it's an important book to read my

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daughter to help her in preparation for a future in which she will inevitably lose grandparents to whom she is very close (and I was pleased to see she weathered the tale better than I did). The story is simple and gentle and not at all overwrought.

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Loosing a loved one can be difficult, but if they are watching us all around, then it may be comfort for some.

deals with death of first great grama who lives upstairs and then grama who lives downstairs. child sees a shooting star after first death and maybe it's great grama, then another when grama dies so maybe it's grama. Child resolves that now both grama's are Upstairs. 3-5 individual or family

This book deals with the death of a great grandparent, and then later the death of a grandparent. The grandmother tells the child that a shooting star was the great grandmother looking down on them. The book helps with acceptance of death.

A story of a little boy who copes with his great grandmother dying.

This book is about a family who has a grandma and a great grandma and great grandma passes away.
Ages 3-6
Source ECE class