Thank you to Netgalley and Two Lions and the author for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

very sweet and heartwarming yet heartbreaking story. It makes me miss my grandpa😭🤍Th illustrations are so beautiful. I love the colors and the vibe. Such a wholesome read!!

Well, this one.
I did not expect how touched I felt after reading.
This book shows pure love, about not giving up on people you love. That no matter how hard, love will find the way.
It's soooo lovely and heartwarming. Don't even start with the illustrations - GORGEOUS.
Highly recommended this book!!

Incredibly heartwarming book with a sweet message, clean writing, and pretty illustrations. Loved this one!

Now I want to make meatballs! This book will truly make the reader’s senses come to life, as we hear and smell a wonderful Italian dinner being made. This book took the difficult concept of Alzheimer’s and made it easier for children to understand. A true story of the power of love in a family. I love the different points of view in the illustrations as well.

This book is beautiful and moving, dealing gently with family and dementia at a child's level. Felicia loves to cook with her Italian grandparents, especially now her Grandpa doesn't remember things so well and doesn't always recognise her. Grandma knows that cooking together, all the familiar tastes and smells can awaken his memory. This book is a loving and enthusiastic story of cooking and eating together, and beautifully illustrated. There's even a recipe in the back to encourage young readers to try out pasta and meatballs for themselves.

I loved this cute, sentimental picture book about a little girl who cooks spaghetti and meatballs with her grandparents. Her grandfather suffers from Alzheimer’s and his memory continues to fade, but her grandmother encourages the girl to help cook because tastes and smells will help him remember. It’s so touching and heartwarming. It even made me a little teary-eyed.

I loved the illustrations. They were beautiful to look at and really helped to tell the story. The artwork reminded me of picture books from back when I was little. It’s very colorful and animated with their different emotions.

I also thought it was helpful to have a glossary of Italian words at the beginning that were used in the story. Then, at the end, some recipes are included with the author’s note, which was very sweet to read. Highly recommend!!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. These are my own thoughts and opinions.

If there are two things my nephew loves, it’s meatballs and his Grandpa. He loved this story and loved the illustrations.

Meatballs for Grandpa is a moving children’s book which follows the story of a young girl as she makes meatballs with her grandpa. It explores her thoughts and feelings about her grandpas memory loss in a reflective and sensitive way that I think would be really normalising and accessible for young readers.

The illustrations are energetic, vibrant and mouth watering. The characters come to life, and there’s so much to explore on each page.

While there is sadness, the story is one of hope, in the moments we can share with our loved ones. Dementia is a condition that is hard to make sense of, even as an adult, and I think this book is a beautiful way for children to explore this topic with their grown ups, especially when learning to cope with changes in their loved ones.

Thank you Two Lions and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

Sweet story that will help kids going through this with their grandparents. It reminded me of my own papa so much. Very sweet.

5 stars

As an Italian American living in the Northeast, how could I resist?

This hit me straight in the heart. The sweetest story on tradition and family tied into the melancholy and complexities that come with aging and memory loss.

Illustrations were beautiful and the addition of the Italian glossary really tied this together

Such a quick, lovely read that warmed my heart - will be purchasing for the newest parents in my family!

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘓𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺

A sweet little story about tradition and the love of grandparents and a granddaughter. Grandpa is suffering from dementia and his granddaughter and wife make spaghetti, the old way, in hopes he will remember the sites and smells of a loving Italian kitchen. The pictures are wonderful and at the end of the book, the author has provided her background and an Italian spaghetti recipe she made as a child. The front of the book provides a glossary of the Italian words used. If I had any critique, it would be to enlarge the print a bit.
I would like to thank #netgalley and #twolions for allowing me the opportunity to advance read this copy.

This was a lovely, heartwarming story featuring a family member with memory loss/Alzheimers. This book will be such a helpful way to teach kids to interact with someone with memory loss with patience and kindness. I loved the illustrations, and the recipes. The author's note is very touching. Highly recommended.
Thank you for the eARC.

In this heartwarming picture book, the joy of family, tradition, and the power of food takes center stage. Join a little girl and her grandparents as they embark on a sensory-rich journey to make the family's cherished spaghetti and meatballs recipe. Despite Grandpa's fading memory, the act of cooking together becomes a magical experience, evoking sizzles, tangs, and cherished memories. The story beautifully weaves the sensory elements of the kitchen with the warmth of familial bonds, offering readers a delightful tale of love, heritage, and the enduring power of shared meals. Complete with a glossary of Italian words and a recipe for tomato sauce and meatballs, this book is a flavorful celebration of tradition and togetherness.

What a cute story about a girl wanting to make her grandpa meatballs so he will remember who she is by smells and taste. Has some words in Italian for kiddos to learn and adults too if they don’t know. And the author shared their family recipes at the end. Overall a great story with a wonderful message

What a lovely story with equally beautiful illustrations! The cover is what initially drew me to the book but the illustrations when they’re cooking are so fun and engaging. I think this would be a great book for any child, but I especially think it would be wonderful for children that love someone who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Not only will it help them understand what’s going on but it will welcome discussion.

There are a few Italian phrases (with translations in the beginning of the book) and also a recipe in the back for meatballs and sauce which were fun things to include.

[Thank you to NetGalley and Two Lions for the eARC]

This book is so sweet. It’s about a girl that goes to her grandparents house to make meatballs with her grandpa but her grandpa has trouble remembering things, even her. They still share this special moment where grandpa does remember how to make meatballs. The use of onomatopoeia is really good.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful book that will help children who have a relative with dementia. The pictures are wonderful and the text is so beautifully written.

the illustrations of this book are so well done! and i thought the story was very cute and meaningful, as someone who has been around someone with memory loss like that it can be hard, i think this book could be very helpful for kids who have grandparents losing their memories or someone else close.

This book does a good job of explaining memory/cognition issues in a language children will understand. I especially like the illustrations and that recipes are included at the end. This can be used to continue the conversation while making meatballs and sauce!

Meatballs for Grandpa was genuinely heartwarming. It’s such a great way of teaching children how to relate to their grandparents. Sadly, many children will be able to understand how the little girl in this story is feeling when her grandpa doesn’t remember her. Hopefully this book will help them respond with patience and understanding instead of feeling scared or rejected.
The illustrations were classical and really lovely.
Thank you for the eARC, I enjoyed this book very much.