What do you like about The Grannie Annie? How has The Grannie Annie helped you or someone you know? Do you have a suggestion? The Grannie Annie wants to hear from you. Send your e-mail to Feedback@TheGrannieAnnie.org. Please include your full name, mailing address, and phone number.

I am always on the lookout for ways to share my students’ writing and am thrilled to have discovered The Grannie Annie. Everyone had so much fun finding out about past family events, and I’m proud of the stories the students produced.

Beverly Miller, Teacher
Alabama, USA

The Grannie Annie challenged my students to go beyond their comfort zone, to write for a broader audience, and to see that learning goes beyond the four walls of a classroom.

Ann-Marie Harris, Teacher
Maryland, USA

The Grannie Annie is a good start for kids to get published. And I love the way The Grannie Annie helps people understand their family history. It also helps children get closer to their families.

Andrew Malphurs
Author of the Grannie Annie, Vol. 5, story “Grandpa’s Saddle”

Stories connect people in families and communities, giving them a common language and understanding of the present as well as the past. Through The Grannie Annie, generations connect as students take time to listen to the stories of their older relatives—and learn from them. Then, as the students write and share their stories, the connections multiply.

Amy Glaser Gage
Children’s author, writing teacher, and consultant to The Grannie Annie

We extend our heartfelt appreciation to The Grannie Annie for offering children and their families an opportunity to remember, or perhaps discover for the first time, treasured pieces of family history. Through The Grannie Annie, these legacies are preserved for generations to come, and memories are created during the process.

Susan Malphurs, Parent
Cumming, Georgia

Although most students in our Eastern European village live next door to family members from earlier generations, The Grannie Annie prompted them to talk with their grandparents in new ways—and to discover the customs and challenges of times past. In addition, stories from the Grannie Annie books have given my students a glimpse of the world outside their village, where differences may abound but the underlying human condition remains the same.

Martin Ellinger-Locke, Peace Corps Volunteer
Petrunea, Glodeni, Moldova

The Grannie Annie is all about connection. As it hearkens back to the original Grannie Annie, it continues her tradition of oral storytelling to link generations and cultures. Grannie Annie family stories written by young people illuminate a long span of history, often revealing family values honed from adversity or triumph and tempered by humor and love.

Janet Grace Riehl
Author of Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry & Music

The Grannie Annie is remarkable in its goals and in its approach. Recording and sharing the stories of preceding generations goes to the heart of education—it teaches us who we are as family members, citizens, and members of human civilization. The interviews have the dual benefit of preserving the history of our ancestors and giving our younger generations the chance to ask the questions and consider the issues that are important to them.

Matthew Lary
Co-author of Victory Through Valor: A Collection of World War II Memoirs

Since first becoming involved with The Grannie Annie, we look forward every year to the truly unique and heartwarming stories each student brings to the classroom. It reminds us that we are all connected by the fabric of family and should cherish the life experiences/lessons learned by past generations.

Brian Billings and Laura Amburgey, Teachers
Whitehouse, Ohio

The Grannie Annie offers my students an excellent opportunity to record and share stories from their family histories. By interviewing relatives, the students learn to appreciate and experience the triumphs and the troubles of their ancestors. These stories should be preserved for these students and for future generations, and The Grannie Annie provides this worthwhile opportunity that benefits all generations.

Susan Jewell, Teacher
Wolbach, Nebraska

It is a privilege to be a part of The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration. This wonderful anthology helps to shape our children’s identity by providing them with the opportunity to understand and value their ancestry.

The infinite power of hope, valor, perseverance, and compassion are present in these endearing and eloquently written stories. These significant character-building qualities of generations past can only contribute to strong family foundations today and tomorrow.

May the legacy of The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration continue for generations to come!

Jodi J. De Luca, Ph.D., Parent
Tampa, Florida

We are so thrilled that our daughter, Samantha Lopez, had a story chosen for publication in volume 3 of the Grannie Annie series. She is so excited and proud. She has struggled with her learning differences, and to find such success has helped her find her strengths. You cannot imagine the boost to her self-esteem from being a published author!

At the same time it is bittersweet because her grandfather, whose box of treasures prompted the story, recently passed away and was unable to be with us to tell us even more about her, and his, family's past.

I hope more schools become aware of The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration. Thank you.

Amy Lopez, Parent
Dallas, Texas

We had an incredible time working on [our daughter’s Grannie Annie] story. I had never told Amy about her ancestors. She was thrilled to learn that they were farmers, since she dreams of being a farmer when she grows up. It was a great way for Amy to learn about the rich heritage from which she comes — and to get more writing experience to boot. . . . Thank you so much for providing this one-of-a-kind learning experience. 

Ruth Whitaker, Parent
Dallas, Texas

Thank you for starting such a heart-warming project where all the kids are winners, whether their stories are published or not. Each student who participates in this worthy event learns a wonderful family story and becomes better connected with family members, society, and history.

G-g Metzger, Teacher
Dallas, Texas

Grannie Annie is a beautiful collection of stories — educational, funny, exciting, touching. The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration reminds us that everyone is a storyteller, and who better to share our stories with than our children? When youngsters learn their family stories, they get a sense of how they themselves fit into history, they become more closely bound to older relatives, and they are more likely to recognize their ancestors as three-dimensional people who will amaze and delight them.

Linda Austin
Author of Cherry Blossoms in Twilight: Memories of a Japanese Girl

Our son's oma is overwhelmed that her "story" is in print in Grannie Annie. She is thankful for the opportunity to tell it! Every family member and family friend has a signed copy. I know many will be ordering future volumes — they have enjoyed all the stories, just as we have.

Karie Millard, Parent
Indianapolis, Indiana

When kids learn details about what life was like decades ago, the past comes alive for them. History becomes real — and they want to know more! The Grannie Annie provides an opportunity for kids to be inspired by their own family's history — and to share it with the world.

Florrie Binford Kichler
Patria Press

Perhaps the greatest value of the Grannie Annie stories is something not written in the book. When a child interviews an older relative, the child gets to know a person he or she may have taken for granted. The relative gets to tell a story that might have been lost. A bond is created or strengthened. A story is recorded for posterity. New memories are woven, and — just maybe — a writer is born.

Lulu Delacre
Author/Illustrator of Salsa Stories

This book [Grannie Annie] should be on the bookshelves in all elementary and junior high schools. . . .

Read the full review
The Reading Tub (tm)

The Grannie Annie offers students real writing in a real setting. Teachers and parents, if you want to motivate students to love writing, ask them to write for The Grannie Annie. Students not only write their stories, they write their families into history — with a payoff of possible publication.

The Grannie Annie offers readers true stories that expose the human heart and create space for conversation about what truly matters in life. So give yourself a gift: Sit down with a copy of Grannie Annie and share these stories with your family.

Bonnie M. Davis, Ph.D.
Author of How to Teach Students Who Don’t Look Like You: Culturally Relevant Teaching Strategies, www.educatingforchange.com

Folks coming together and getting to know one another can bring us all closer to a peaceful world. Sharing family stories helps people see what they have in common — and helps them discover their roots as well. Without a doubt, The Grannie Annie is a great idea.

Michael Terrien, President
Play for Peace, www.playforpeace.org

Thanks for offering The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration. My daughter had so much fun talking to her grandmother about "the old days."

Susan Pennington, Parent and English Teacher
St. Louis, Missouri

The Grannie Annie proved to be a valuable experience for the students in my school. The children’s interviews with their parents or grandparents sparked some good conversation. When the children shared the stories, some students who are normally quiet or reserved got to shine because of something really neat that they wrote about. 

Dianne Elson, Teacher
Carmel, Indiana

The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration takes us back to the old porch swing and to a world of stories from the past. On days filled with CDs, DVDs, and electronic games and screens, we yearn for an afternoon in Grandmother’s kitchen sprinkling cinnamon and sugar on cookies fresh out of the oven or a long walk down to the river with Grandpa to see the tadpoles. It is in these moments with our elders that stories are shared and we discover who we are, our true legacy. For their tales contain wisdom, laughter, and love that connect us to our past and to each other. These shared memories that will live on in us help us "come into our own," but not "on our own." We discover a deep sense of belonging, values, and pride.

Hop on this old creaking swing and you’ll hear stories that will bring tears to your eyes or make you laugh till your sides hurt. Grab your pen — you’ll want to get one of your own family escapades down so that you can submit it to The Grannie Annie, share it with others, and pass it on to your grandchildren someday. Taking time away from your technology-filled life to join in The Grannie Annie is like trading fast food for Sunday dinner at Grandma’s.

Debra K. Shatoff, Ed.D.
Family Therapist and Author of In-Home Child Care: A Step-by-Step Guide to Quality, Affordable Care