by Vanita Oelschlager, Illustrated by Robin Hegan and Kristin Blackwood
Publisher: Cleveland Clinic Press, 2006
Description
What does it mean for a child to have a grandparent in a wheelchair? For Grampy’s grandchildren, a wheelchair opens onto a world of possibilities!
Vanita Oelschlager has captured some of those possibilities in her newest book, My Grampy Can’t Walk.
Grampy’s MS hasn’t slowed him down much. And it certainly hasn’t kept the grandkids from climbing on board his wheelchair, letting it take them places only they can go!
Order through http://www.mygrampy.net.
Review
by Dana Bard for InsideMS, April 2006
Told in simple but heart-warming language and gorgeous full-color illustrations, My Grampy Can't Walk is an excellent book for younger children who have a grandparent or other older relative with mobility limitations.
The book demonstrates in a moving and personal way that the inability to walk doesn't have to keep children and grandparents from enjoying the world together. In its 34 oversized pages, Grampy and his grandchildren take a ride in an adapted jeep, fly in an airplane, watch the sunset, tell each other stories, and explore:
"My Grampy can't walk.
But he can ride like the wind,
Like we're off to a race.
He can scoop me into his arms,
And we go off to our secret place."
The book ends with inspirational poems by six of Grampy's grandchildren. Lily writes:
"My Grampy can't walk,
But he helped me to learn how.
I used his wheelchair
To pull myself up
And Grampy never cared."
The author, Vanita Oelschlager, and her husband, Jim, who has MS, are longtime supporters and donors to the National MS Society. Copies of this delightful book were donated to every chapter of the Society. All proceeds from sales will be given to The Oak Clinic for Multiple Sclerosis in Uniontown, Ohio, and the Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis (Cleveland Clinic Foundation) in Cleveland, Ohio.
Find Book