When Grandpa comes to visit, what begins as a surprise for young Jeremy and his parents turns into a shock for the old man. He has travelled all the way from the Caribbean on his own ticket, yet the family appears too busy to spend time with him. The problem is that Jeremy and his parents have developed a routine that’s completely foreign to him: the adults work two jobs each and Jeremy has become rather too attached to the television and VCR in his bedroom. But the family is not beyond redemption; when a power outage commands their attention one evening, they are able to rediscover the value of a simpler and more genuine kind of togetherness.

Here, Keens-Douglas has revisited a theme he explored in the beautifully written Nutmeg Princess: in a nutshell, the value of family and community over the obsessive pursuit of material wealth. In this he makes a valid and fairly uncontroversial point. But the instantaneous rearrangement of priorities in Grandpa’s Visit may cause some readers discomfort, either because such a sharp return to home life might be unrealistic or because the undertones in the story’s conclusion are a little sanctimonious.

The overtones of the story, however, are vibrant enough to accommodate this didacticism without being overshadowed by it. The lively tone and pace of Keens-Douglas’s writing are due at least in part to the oral storytelling techniques he has incorporated into it. For example, the narrative breaks from time to time into friendly asides to the reader. It also draws appealingly concrete analogies such as the one between the grandfather’s welcome visit and a nice hot bowl of cereal on a cold day.

Clancy’s skillful pencil crayon illustrations add considerable interest to the book. Much of this comes from the dynamic gestures and facial expressions of the characters. The best example of this is the sheepish look Jeremy’s father wears on his face as he is leaving Grandpa alone in the house – an image that captures nicely the conflicted energies of the family until their visitor sets them straight.