A super cute picture book about distant relatives coming to visit told in rhyme. I loved the illustrations and felt that the story was fun.

“Elinore's Glad-To-Be =Together Family” is a delightful picture book celebrating the occasions when far-flung family get together. Three-year-old Elinor waits at the “when-will-they-get-here window” for her grandparents to arrive. The story follows the family through the day of fun and adventure. The text is clever with all the hyphenated phrases and reflects the language of a preschooler. The bright, vibrant colors of the watercolor style illustrations capture the reader’s attention. I recommend this book to families with distant relatives. It would also be great for Storytime in a preschool or primary classroom.

An advance Reader Copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Amplify Publishing to enable this unbiased review.

This book was so adorable, I loved everything about it, the illustrations were so well done, they suited the book perfectly, the story was amazing as well, even thought is very short I could really connect with the characters. I’m sure the kids are going to be just as enthralled with this amazing book as I was. I will definitely recommend! Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this early copy

This book is absolutely adorable!! It is hard to grow up far away from your grandparents, and this book embodied those feelings perfectly. I think this will be the perfect read for any child missing their grandparents. I loved the language and think it would be extremely educational as well. Not to mention the stunning illustrations! And the main character is quite adorable - I love the name Elinor. I hope to see more from this author in the future - I have already ordered a few copies to give as gifts. Definitely pick this one up!

A straightforward story about family spending time together but I find the writing witty sometimes. Would be a nice book to read among childrens.

Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy given and above are my sincere thoughts♥️

Elinor's Glad-To Be-Together Family is brought to us by author, Susan Layne, and illustrator, Diana Ting Delosh. I was attracted to the cover initially. It reminded me of the much loved, The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr. The characters were drawn in a similar style, but Diana Ting Delosh gave us more. More people. More elements. More color. This continued throughout the book, where most of the illustrations are full, vibrant, double-page spreads.

As the dedication alludes to, the story is about families that are located far apart but make the effort to make memories. And so…the story begins with a young Elinor waiting at the ‘when-will-they-get-here window’ for her grandparents that have taken a flight to spend the day with the family. As summer turns to autumn, they cram in as much as possible as they explore the beach, feed the ducks, swing by the lake, and finally travel home exhausted. As she waves her grandparents off the following day, Elinor reflects on the wonderful day that she had with them.

It’s a beautiful story that is a reflection of my children and the days spent with their grandparents, only they drive a great distance rather than fly. It’s a joy to witness the extended family together as it is not necessarily the done thing anymore. People have busy lives, long working hours, and less commitment to family than they used to.

This story would be best placed in a home where a parent/primary caregiver reads it to children up to the age of around seven. It would also sit well in a nursery/kindergarten setting and would stimulate discussion about how children spend their weekends, and with whom. With such beautiful, full illustrations, even without the ability to read, children are able to make up their own narratives around the pictures. I did find some of the adjectives to be a bit of a mouthful and that would be my only criticism of the book, which is the main reason for determining it a 4 out of 5.

This book was adorable and the illustrations were great. The use of hyphens to describe situations instead of adding extra words was genius. It sounded like a very fun day with the grandparents that any child would enjoy.

3.5 stars

This is a great book to share with kids who have relatives they don't see as often as they'd like to because they don't live close by. The story was really cute and the illustrations were adorable. The only reason I didn't rate this higher is due to the overuse of hyphenated phrases. Some of them were cute but it became too much to be enjoyable in every sentence. I would think it could be confusing for younger kids to understand. Due to that, I'd recommend this for slightly older kids than the target audience.

Thank you, Amplify Publishing/Mascot Kids!, for the advance reading copy.

I love this book inside out! This is the story of three year old, Emily, anticipating her grandparents’ visit. Once they arrive, the family goes out for fun and adventures. I would say this story depicts perfectly how I would have felt when I was her age when my close family members visit our house. I love the illustrations! It’s perfect.

This is a lovely story about family, and the preciousness of time spent together, no matter how exciting or everyday the activities underway.

Elinor is excited to have her grandparents visiting from far away to spend a day with them. She waits by the when-will-they-get-here window in eager anticipation.

After they arrive, the family heads off to the seashore with their pet dog, and spends a memorable day together eating fried oysters and swinging up to the sky. It would have been nice to see a bit more activity based around the water though. Maybe it's too cold? But even the dog chasing waves or dipping their toes in would have added to the atmosphere.

I loved the author's use of hyphenated phrases that are both descriptive and evocative. This is a great book to share with children to illustrate the value of close multi-generational family relationships. And the drawings are absolutely beautiful. I give this one 3.5 stars.

Layne's story is a simple and sweet one, and the story is one that will appeal to most children. There are just way too many hyphenated words/phrases and this would definitely make it harder for younger children to follow this story. A park is described as a "Sun-going-down park" which feels wordy and and a perplexing stylistic choice. The story is worthwhile on its own, so perhaps adults should read the book to their children/students. The illustrations by Diana Ting Delosh are simply gorgeous. Young children will love the artistry and the vibrancy of Ting Delosh's work.

This book just didn't work for me. I read this aloud with my daughter and she just seemed confused. While to concept is nice, the writing style and explanations can be a bit hard to follow or distracting. The constant inclusing of hyphentated phrases just seemed thrown in and causes stumbling over words when trying to read aloud. I think it would have been better if they weren't so heavily used.

Thank You to NetGalley for a preview of this book that I might review it. I loved the story, illustrations, and care that went into this book about Elinor and her family. I think it was so more meaningful that the author is one of the characters in the book, and was able to share this with her family. I think this is a very sweet story to share with little ones missing their far away family.