Lola's Nana-Bibi Comes to Visit

Miigweetch NetGalley and Charlesbridge for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This is a children’s book centering around Lola, her mommy, and Lola’s Nana-Bibi (grandmother). Nana-Bibi is coming to visit and there’s lots to do to get ready, and more fun to be had once Nana-Bibbi arrives! The text of the book is complex enough that toddlers and preschoolers will recognize this as a step up from board books, yet it’s simple and short enough that they’re not likely to lose interest during the story. It would work well for read-aloud.

Lola and her family embody relationships I hope to see in my own house, and this is an excellent “grandparent’ story. I especially liked the line “Lola has Mommy, and Mommy has Nana-Bibi” because it’s elegant in its simplicity and representation of the circle of life. I like that Lola is Black and her family is shown doing things representative of their culture, like Nana-Bidi braiding Mommy’s hair and Mommy braiding Lola’s hair (and Lola braiding her baby doll’s hair!)

Beardshaw’s acrylic illustrations are warm, accessible, and diverse. The pictures make a beautiful complement to the text and give excellent representation to Lola and her family. I’m a big fan of stories featuring BIPOC characters and recommend this book for any preschool and elementary library. It would also likely be well received by children who have a close relationship with a grandmother or older female relative.

Author Anna McQuinn has written over twenty-five picture books, many of which are about Lola. In this book, Lola's Nana-Bibi is coming to visit from Tanzania and Lola is so excited! The week with Nana-Bibi is filled with fun activities, like making her special mandazi doughnuts, dancing and talking about all the things Nana-Bibi used to do with her nana. This is a beautiful book about family, especially grandmothers, mothers and granddaughters. It is charming in particular because of the multi-cultural references since Nana-Bibi lives in Tanzania. The book's familial love and joy spill from the pages and illustrations. It is a wonderful book to teach young children about diversity in cultures yet similarities in families and affection. The Illustrations, by Rosalind Beardshaw, are colorful and evoke some of the beautiful African culture that Nana-Bibi shares with Lola. Thank you to NetGalley, Anna McQuinn, and Charlesbridge Publishing for the ARC of this book.

This picture book tells the story of a little girl and her grandmother who comes to visit. During the story the family do several traditional activities like special hairdos and dancing together to share their culture together. The font is large and easy to read, usually black on a light coloured background. The text on each page is short and simple and the pictures aid in comprehension. As a grade 3 teacher, I would recommend this book to parents and teachers of children in the age 4-7 range. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book!

This book, part of the Lola series of picture books is an excellent book. The story and words are simple, perfect for young children and new readers alike. The illustrations are gorgeous and really do the work of telling the story and you really feel the warmth and importance of family and family visits through them. Definitely recommend this book be included in any home, school or public children’s book collection/library.

A lovely book celebrating family, culture and the knowledge that can be passed down from one generation to another. Lola and her family share their experiences with the reader.

Gahhh! This is yet another darling addition to the Lola series and I love the illustrations! Rosalind Beardshaw is SO talented! I love all the traditional dress and head wraps Nana Bibi wears! Would love to know which country she is visiting from.

"I like this book and I like the pictures and pages. My favorite part was Lola sleeping.  I like the words." - 5 Year Old Reviewer 😊

Lola's Nana-Bibi comes to visit is a cute story about a young girl who has a very special visitor! When Nana-Bibi comes to visit Lola and her family have a wonderful time.  Dancing, baking together, shopping, everything is a little more special with Nana-Bibi.

This is a lighthearted book perfect to read with kids ages 1-5!  The pictures are bright and engaging and the story shows a happy family excited to spend time together.  While reviewing it I read it to my youngest child and he really enjoyed it.

Make sure to check out the other "Lola" books by Anna Quinn!

Favorite Things About This Book:

🌻 A Happy Family
🌻 Uplifting Story
🌻 Bright Illustrations

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The big-sized fonts, easy-to-understand vocabulary, brief text on each page, and number of pages make this book perfect for early readers. Beardshaw’s illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to the story. They are pleasing and appealing and highlight the culture and setting in a fitting manner.

The book’s beauty lies in its simplicity. There is nothing complex or difficult to understand here. McQuinn knows what her young readers want and has adapted the story to their preferences. This is an excellent resource to spread the message of love and teach cultural diversity.

Lola's Nana-Bibi Comes to Visit is a story infused with love, warmth, simplicity, and the beauty of familial ties. It would be a lovely read-out-aloud book, and even pre-schoolers and toddlers would enjoy this story.

Lola's Nana-Bibi Comes to Visit
Anna McQuinn; illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw

Great for young children understanding cultural differences and accepting that family is family. This books shows the roles of grand parents and grand children. Shows how family connects and reconnects with each visit. The older generation not only showing what they know but how they appreciate life. Artistically it is inclusive, showing multicultural children, parents and grand parents. Showing different dress, and food that a young child can share.

Lola is talking about the things that they do when Lola's Nana-Bibi comes to visit. The souvenirs, the shopping, the cooking, and the sharing of time, love, and space create a story of intergenerational love that Lola gets to experience every time her Nana-Bibi comes to visit. A really cute and heartwarming multicultural book on a family that is inclusive and has good visuals. It is part of an ongoing series.


Story: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
Thanks to NetGalley, Anna McQuin, Rosalind Beardshaw, and Charlesbridge for sending me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A lovely story about family! Very cute with great illustrations and a simple story perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.

This is a gorgeous story about a family who’s Nana-Bibi comes to stay! Sweet interactions between the family members, lovely displays of culture being share and fun moments together. Loved the illustrations. Gentle, sweet, highlights importance of family. Loved it.

This picture book was a little younger than I was expecting, and seems to be from a long series of stories following this character. Neither of these points impacted mine or my little brothers enjoyment of the story though. This was a cute little story of Lola, who's preparing for her grandmothers visit who she doesn't see very often. It depicted family life with a casual beauty- one scene that stood out for me was Lola, her mother and grandmother all braiding each others hair. It was so cute, and I think Black little girls and their families will particularly appreciate it. I enjoyed this cute little book, and will keep my eye out for other titles in the series.

Received a copy from NetGalley. A sweet intergenerational book about when Lola's Nana-Bibi comes to visit and brings stories, gifts, recipes, traditions, dances, and love.

We watch the fun as Lola’s Nana-Bibi comes to visit. This isn’t just fun for lola but fun for the whole family. Representation of generation’s and black cultures.

This is a multi-generational book and it was good to see the family sharing when they were kids. This is not as normalized in society or in books as when we were kids, so I think it is a good reminder that the only way people are going to learn about their ancestors is by sharing that information.

I'm usually a huge fan of the Lola books, eager to share and promote them with my younger students. However, this Lola book fell a little bit flat for me due to the sudden ending. The story of Lola's Nana flying in, sharing in new and familiar traditions, and talking about family was absolutely lovely. My favorite scene were the illustrations of Lola's hair being done by her mom, while her mom's hair was being done by her Nana. However, the book sort of cut off with Lola going to sleep one night, rather abruptly it seemed. This is what keeps this book from being a five star read for me, but may not bother younger audiences as deeply.

A sweet story about a grandmother's visit. When Lola's grandmother, Nana-Bibi, comes to visit they have so much fun together talking, cooking, shopping, braiding hair, and more. This is a warm, simple story full of family love and joy with lovely illustrations.

A wonderful book explaining the beauty of the relationship among parents and grandparents. With large fonts and easy to read vocabulary, this book is suitable for early readers.

A sweet story about family, displaying a beautiful relationship between daughter, mother and grandmother.

Lola's grandmother is visiting from Tanzania and Lola just can't wait to spend time with her. They spend the time cooking, dancing, and sharing family stories.

This story fosters a connection between generations and promotes active participation in activities that carry on family traditions that are often lost to time and distance.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher Charlesbridge for the opportunity to read and review this book.

💖🍼 🧸 Wonderful little book!

Lola's grandmother, Nana-Bibi, is coming to visit them.
She is going to come and sleep in little Lola's room, who is overexcited.

Lola helps her mother prepare Nana-Bibi's bed...

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A wonderful little book with very pretty colored drawings.

The background story is cute, the characters are adorable.

An absolutely perfect read!
💖🍼🧸

We absolutely adore the Lola series! I was so excited to see this story about her grandma coming to town to visit.

The illustrations are stunning !!! And the aesthetic is unbelievable. I only dream to have a room like Lola’s and to visit a coffee shop that looks like that ! Seriously though, blown away !

The only criticism I have is that I wanted more ! I was so shocked to see that there wasn’t any more pages to turn and that was the end. It seemed so sudden. I wanted more of their story.. it was so beautiful.

“Lola’s Nana-Bibi is coming to visit. Lola is excited!”
I love the Lola books and this one is just as (if not more so) charming as the others! The theme of spending time with family and learning from elder family members is great. This would be cute for a grandparents StoryTime.

I received an electronic ARC from Charlesbridge through NetGalley.
The latest in this series about Lola.
Lola is excited that her Nana-Bibi (grandmother) is coming to visit. Readers see the family prepare a place for her and then experience all the adventures and fun during the visit. McQuinn captures the joy of being together even for short time periods. The love shines through the everyday and readers will connect with that. Brightly colored illustrations capture the energy well.

Always love this series, an easy read, yet meaningful. This time Lola's grandma came, and Lola spent time with her and learning so many things. Apparently, her Grandma is not from next town, but next continent! And what she brought as gifts were awesome things from afar. From this, children can learn other culture. With easy wordings for little ones and cute illustrations, this is one interesting read.

Lola’s Nana-Bibi Comes to Visit is a new story about Lola by Anna McQuinn. Lola’s grandmother, who lives in Tanzania, is coming to visit the family. Therefore, the family must get the house ready for her visit. During her grandmother’s stay, Lola and her family enjoy many fun adventures with Nana-Bibi.

Lola’s Nana-Bibi Comes to Visit is a wonderful story for young children. The illustrator, Rosalind Beardshaw has created colorful and very detailed illustrations. This book would be a great story to share with children who are anticipating a visit from a grandparent that lives far away.

In keeping with a younger audience, this picture book is short and sweet. I appreciate how the connections are there to introduce children to the concept of being a person's child is not just for children, it's also for adults. There are clear parallels to how Lola interacts with her mother, and her mother interacts with her Nana-Bibi. I think the idea of a visit is made quite clear as well.

Lola will continue to delight the preschool crowd. In this title, her Nana-Bibi is coming to visit. Small details are described in simple language: "Nana-Bibi and Mommy talk and talk. They have so much to say." Definitely a young child's observation. With simple text and colorful pictures, this will be a storytime hit.

A lovely story of Nana-Bibi’s visit to see her daughter’s family especially granddaughter, Lola. Lola is excited to have Grandma stay, and the family engage in several activities during Grandma’s visit. The text is easy to read, and it is a great read aloud book for toddlers and preschoolers.

The illustrations are vibrant and filled with bold colors. The book shows inter-generational relationships, the joy of spending time with family and a view into a different culture. It is the cutest picture book for young readers. Thank to NetGalley and Charesbridge for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

ARC NETGALLEY REVIEW
** I read children’s books to my Service Dog

My pup loves when his grandma comes to visit, so he related to this book so much. The story was so cute and heartfelt. Highly recommend this to any child and the library

I have read several of the Lola books by Anna McQuinn to my grandchildren and they enjoy them. This book has Lola's grandmother coming to visit from Tanzania. Lola knows that she will have fun while Nana-Bibi is there. First, she gets to sleep on the special blow up bed, and then they go shopping, make special food and more. She loves spending time with her Nana and talking and doing things that her Nana and mother did with their nana's. We really enjoyed this multi-cultural, multi-generational story. We talked about things they do with me as well as their nonna. The illustrations are wonderfully expressive, showing those emotions they are feeling. I think it is important that children read books about families that might be different from their own, but where the relationships are important and loving.

Absolutely adorable story. Want to read the rest of this series to my girls. Love stories that include loving family members to read to my girls.