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All of Jennie Bella’s friends had a grandma, but Jennie Bella did not. One day, she asked her parents where her grandma was. She learned that her father’s mother was living far away in Argentina, and the family had not seen her in many years because of the distance. Her mother’s mother had passed away long before Jennie Bella was born. But since all her friends talked about their grandmas and all the fun things they did together, Jennie Bella began making up stories about her own grandma and all the exciting adventures they had. Everyone could see how happy Jennie Bella was to talk about her grandma, so they did not discourage her. When Jennie Bella wanted to actually talk to her grandma, her mother called her friend who told Jennie Bella stories and pretended to be her grandma. Jennie Bella even got to meet her in person and sing Happy Birthday to her. This made her very happy and helped preserve her innocent nature.
Blanes uses the imagination and innocence of a child to convey a heart-warming story of a little girl who desperately wants to have and meet her grandma. The colorful illustrations help guide the happy story along and keep young readers entertained. Throughout the book, Blanes makes references to the word grandma in other languages, such as vovó (Portuguese), babushka (Russian), and abuela (Spanish) among others. The voice of the story is very upbeat and geared toward early readers or picture book audiences. Although some words might require the assistant of adult readers, these are explained in detail so that children can still comprehend the concepts. A fun feature of the book is the final page which shows “Grandmas Around the World” and lists the names and pronunciations of the word grandma in many different countries and languages.