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This delightful children’s picture book pays sweet homage to a particular spot at the narrator’s grandmother’s house: the swing on the front porch. It is upon this swinging bench, with its big red cushion, that the child and his “Ginny” (pronounced like “Guinea”) have together spent so many wonderful times over the years. When he cried and cried as a baby, Ginny wrapped him in a cozy blanket and sang lullabies on that favorite porch swing. During hot summertime, the two would share icy popsicles side by side on the swing. Whenever the child was not feeling well, Ginny would hold him close and dry his tears, sitting with him on the bench swing until everything was better.
Each day, as a noisy train rushed by, the two would call out the many colors of the train cars from the swing on that porch. Sitting together under the dark sky at night, they would watch the moon and count the stars and fireflies. Oftentimes, after picking flowers, they would sit on the swing and talk and enjoy smelling the country air together. One day, Ginny tells her grandchild that the doctors say she might not feel well for a while. But, she assures the child, “The Lord above will give us joy and peace.” And so, they say a prayer on the swing on Ginny’s porch. Wearing a cap to cover her head where her curly hair has disappeared and with tears in her eyes, she listens as the young child insists she not feel bad, noting that now he has grown big and can sing a lullaby for her. Eventually, her curls grow back, and the two thank God for the gift of each and every new day.
Jenkins’ picture book celebrates, among other things, the seemingly banal—and often taken for granted—specialness that can be attributed to everyday objects and places. That bench swing, which sits on the grandmother’s front porch looking out into the beautiful countryside, has been selected by the author as a uniquely special place and is perfect for fitting two souls such as the young child and his beloved Ginny. Though inanimate in nature, it is this specific porch swing that has, over the many years, served as a place of bonding and a place for sharing in life’s many sweet, small moments between different generations of the family featured in the book. From the child’s first days as a newborn baby, throughout all of childhood, and—presumably—continuing right on through adulthood for the main character, life’s many moments of good, bad, and the many in-betweens have been shared between grandmother and grandchild upon that very bench swing.
There exists a certain quiet comfortableness in the gentle expression of sustained love over the years between a child and a grandparent, wherein the swing can be viewed as a material symbol of the immaterial bond of love and sharing, which defines the two characters of this story and their relationship with one another. Regarding the plot twist of Ginny’s cancer diagnosis—including eventually beating the disease and surviving—its presence in the story serves to highlight the beauty and strength of the protagonists' relationship, This point in the book is, quite honestly, almost heartbreaking. The author never even mentions the word “cancer.” It is implied and the young child would not necessarily even know what the word means at his age. From his perspective, significantly, all that is noticed is that Ginny’s beautiful curls of hair have gone away and that there are tears in her eyes. In fact, the story reads more powerfully this way.
This is a gentle, loving, and life-affirming children’s picture book, which would be a perfect choice to share between parent and child or, even better, between a grandparent and child. Jenkins has written something very special. The range of emotions stirred up for the reader in just these few dozen pages is a testament to the strong bond between the two characters, and similarly serves as a demonstration of the writing skills of the author. Further, the artwork that accompanies the text is seemingly just as it should be: simple, almost minimalist, relaxed, and cheery. Green grass extends beyond the front porch and the swing. Delightful are the small, colorful train cars as they pass by in the distance. Warm, sunny smiles light up the two characters’ faces, revealing the love in their eyes. In essence, Jenkins’ book is quite a gem.