Sometimes a picture book knocks everything out of the park. Evocative prose, whimsical illustrations, a sweet storyline that deals with sensitive topics by applying a big dose of family love—plus a gender ambiguous protagonist with two grandfathers who are a couple. I almost missed this book because the grandfathers’ relationship is so seamlessly woven into the story that the cataloging information has no indication there are LGBTQ characters. This is one picture book that shouldn’t be skipped, however.
The book is the story of Lou, an overall-clad child with boundless energy who visits Grandad and Pops every Saturday. Smith and Kerrigan share the gentle rhythm of their weekend routine, from breakfast with their favorite foods to a trip out to the local library. Grandad likes to read about how things are made; Pops likes to reminisce about when he used to “shake, rattle, and roll.” In the afternoons, Lou builds things with Grandad. One of their creations is a Rube Goldberg-style contraption that releases a burst of paper cranes to surprise and delight Pops.
One Saturday, however, Pops falls. It’s a mostly off-screen incident and we don’t learn details. Afterwards, however, Lou learns that Pops will need a wheelchair, “Not just for now, but for always.” Pops stays in his room for weeks; adult readers may surmise that he has depression. Lou and Grandad worry about him. Finally, Lou concocts a plan to motivate Pops to leave his room. I’ll leave the details for readers to discover; suffice it to say the plan works, and readers are left reassured that although some things have changed for Lou, Grandad, and Pops, they will continue to have many joyous weekends together.
The prose throughout is lovely and spare, with an occasional, well-put flourish (spaghetti with hot sauce “tastes like fireworks”). It neither over-explains nor leaves the reader wondering what is happening—a balance that some children’s books struggle to find. The illustrations, by Kerrigan, don’t just illustrate the text, but add to the story as they often show the characters’ emotions without words. There are also lots of wonderful details throughout, from Lou’s colorful (and sometimes missing) socks, to the grandfather’s quietly inquisitive dog. It is fitting that both Kerrigan and Smith have equal credit on the cover, rather than giving Kerrigan only “illustrated by” credit, which often gets omitted in reviews and discussion.
Lou’s gender is unspecified and Lou’s clothing androgynous; one use of “their” might refer to Lou or to Lou and Grandad, so it’s hard to tell what Lou’s own choice of pronouns might be. Readers can interpret Lou any way they wish, however, which is part of the beauty of this tale. Lou and Pops appear White; Grandad has darker skin and might be Black.
A Plan for Pops is a marvelous book on many, many levels and deserves a wide readership. Pick it up for your children, grandchildren, grandparents, or others in your lives, and recommend it to all the children’s librarians you know. (It is also available in a French version, Une idée pour Papi
