School Library Journal Review

Gr 1-3-In the latest addition to the series, Grandpa helps his grandson overcome an emotional obstacle that many children will relate to-performance anxiety. Gus excels during basketball practice, but he is unable to perform during games. The yelling and screaming render him helpless and unable to use his skills. With a sympathetic ear, Grandpa reminds the boy that the voices he hears during the game can be turned off like a hearing aid, a trick his grandfather uses when he needs to hear himself think. Using this advice, Gus takes the winning shot. As in Gus and Grandpa Ride the Train (1998) and Gus and Grandpa and the Two-Wheeled Bike (2001, both Farrar), the warm relationship between the two is conveyed through the man's loving support for his grandson's interests. Stock's illustrations, which stand alone on certain pages and are integrated with the text on others, have a vintage quality to them; their watercolor and pencil strokes yield earthy browns and soft blues. The gentle tones and emotional truthfulness complement Mills's text impeccably. Filled with fast-paced action and a bit of humor, the story is also rich with lessons in persistence, achievement, and family relationships, and is well suited for reading aloud as well as for beginning readers.-Louie Lahana, New York City Public Schools (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.