Title: Grandpa Nick’s Bump
Author: Mrs. Lynda M. Daniele, O.P.
Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 978-1-64458-540-5
Genre: Children’s Faith Teaching
Pages: 28
Reviewed by: Barbara Miller
Read Book Review

Author Mrs. Lynda M. Daniele, O.P. has written Grandpa Nick’s Bump, celebrating the kindness, good humor and faith of Grandpa Nick, who sadly died after discovering a bump on his head, obviously melanoma.

Beginning the book, the author has two photographs of Grandpa Nick, shown with his four grandchildren – all smiling from ear-to-ear with an aura of love surrounding their precious togetherness.  Then the book morphs into an illustrated story, about Grandpa Nick’s playful character, interacting so lovingly with his grandchildren in many frolicking ways.  The illustrations each have a white bird with an orange beak somewhere in the picture, almost hidden, with the rhetorical question to the children reading this book, “Can you find the Holy Spirit throughout the book?”  This is always a fun way to bring readers into observing the pictures more intensely.

The text has a poetic rhyme to it, allowing for a very kind choice of vernacular for parents’ voices to imprint the story to their children.  It is sad, however, when it is revealed Grandpa Nick died – and the children cried with tears rolling down their cheeks. But Grandpa Nick went to see Jesus and His Father.  Up in heaven, everyone has a castle, and Grandpa Nick was happy in his eternal new home, playing with snowflakes, and although missing his grandchildren, he is shown to be at peace.

Mrs. Lynda M. Daniele, O.P., among other credentials, is a lay sister in the Third Order of St. Dominic, hence the “O.P.”(Order of Preachers) title.  Shown in a photograph holding her dog Molly, readers see the authenticity of this book.

This book is a story to celebrate the life of her companion, Nick, and to keep his memory alive in their grandchildren, her family, and those great-grandchildren perhaps yet to come.  As everyone in life has at one time or another suffered loss, Grandpa Nick’s Bump shows that when things change, with faith and the love of Jesus and God, all is never lost.  It is a message of hope and love which is very important for children to learn from, as it is never too early to explain and reinforce the power of faith to youngsters.