Because Grandad has explained how all things in the natural world pray and make a gift to the beauty of life, his grandson is comforted when Grandad dies.

"Wood conveys a sense of something larger in the world, and gives voice to the human longing to understand." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Grandad is the

All of nature argues about the forms of God, so people are sent as a reminder of all that God is, although they do not seem to understand the message themselves

Beautiful prayers that pour out love and affection for grandparents, alive and deceased.

Part of the regionalist movement that included Grant Wood, Paul Engle, Hamlin Garland, and Jay G. Sigmund, James Hearst helped create what Iowa novelist Ruth Su