Keeping Up With Roo

by Sharlee Mullins Glenn, Dan Andreasen (Illustrations)

Gracie and her aunt Roo are best friends. Roo has the heart and mind of a child, and she’s always had a knack for finding the best ways to have fun together.

But now Gracie’s getting older, and her feelings about Roo are changing. She doesn’t always have time to play anymore. She worries about what her new school friend will think of strange Roo. Does growing up mean she’ll have to leave her best friend behind?

In a realistic, heartwarming story about a little girl’s relationship with her beloved aunt who is mentally challenged, Glenn reminds us of the gifts we all bring to the world, and to each other. The world is comprised of all kinds of teachers.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Realistic Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 22, 2004

Reviews

[Lauren Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tale contains multiple messages that would be useful for children to learn including being accepting of others. “Keeping Up with Roo” by Sharlee Glenn is an interesting tale of a young girl and her Aunt Roo, in the beginning, the two are very close and did just about everything together. When playing school Aunt Roo would teach her niece, Gracie, everything that she knew. However, this was short lived and soon Gracie was teaching Roo things that she learned in school. This is an interesting point in the novel because it is usually the adult that knows more then a young child, seeing as this is not the case brings to question if Roo has a learning disability. Later in the story, Gracie makes a new friend at school, who she brings home one day. This is when Gracie ignores and pretends not to know who Roo is so that she can play with her new friend, which sparks the lessons to be taken away. First and foremost, Gracie learns that one should accept others regardless of their mental capabilities. Another lesson that can be learned is that one does not realize what great times and experiences they have until they are gone. Overall, this is a great tale about maintaining true to oneself and including everyone in the fun.

[Richard Avalos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a young girl and her aunt who is cognitively challenged and as she grows up she begins to feel embarrassed by her aunt. When her best friend comes over she is nervous that her friend will not want to come over anymore because of her aunt, however, they all end up playing together and having fun. This book does a good job in describing Roo who is an aunt that has mental deficiencies to younger children. This book is meant for children 5 years and up and the book does a good job in using syntax and diction appropriate for this age. The setting a plot of this picture book is well developed when considering most picture books are not this developed. Further, the story shows
the girl growing up, going through a conflict, and then resolving it. Moreover, the well-developed plot allows readers to understand the story better while being able to understand the theme. I believe that his book does a good job in showing diversity because of the fact the characters in the book are people of color. Further, this shows children that many of these disabilities affect people of all races and ethnicities.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

The children's book, "Keeping Up With Roo" by Sharlee Mullins Glenn is a sweet look at the difficulties that can arise for families with a member who is intellectually delayed or disabled. The story follows a girl named Gracie who has an aunt, Roo, who has the cognitive abilities of a child. Though Gracie and Roo are the best of friends, as Gracie gets older and begins to surpass her aunt she begins to no longer want to play the childish games that they used to. When Gracie has a friend come over, she notices all the influences that Roo has had upon her life and the ways that she makes life fun and interesting. Gracie then begins to understand the importance of making Roo feel like an important member of the family rather than being embarrassed of her. This is a great book for children in order to understand the importance of individuals with disabilities. The illustrations provide a colorful and cheerful image for children that further enhances the love and care that all individuals deserve.

[Esther Westfall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good story, but I kind of feel like it skirted the issue. As adults, we can realize that Roo has some developmental problems, but I don't think that it's every really stated in the book in a way that children will understand it. My kids are 4 and 6 years old, and to them, Roo just seemed like a big kid they could have lots of fun with (which she essentially is), but they couldn't understand why Gracie would suddenly not want to play with her anymore. It's not really explained enough that she is technically an adult, with the mind of a child, and that's why it would potentially be weird to hang out with her. Perhaps if the author had given more details about Roo's life with her parents, or even talk about why Roo can't have a grown up job or something to help explain that she has a disability and isn't just a super fun grown up.

[Linda DiGaetano · Rating 5 out of 5]

heart-warming story of a young girl and her Aunt Roo. Aunt Roo has a mental disability and Gracie doesn't realize that her aunt has a disability until she gets older and realizes she can't do math or spell. When she has a friend over Aunt Roo acts very oddly Gracie is extremely embarrassed and leaves her Aunt Roo outside. She feels very guilty about how she treated her aunt. She then comes to the realization that Aunt Roo is special and decides to introduce her to a friend. This book is very real and this is a problem with that portion of our society that is mentally challenged. This practice of isolating those that are different is very real and many people have no use for these type of individuals. This is a story that teaches a real life lesson for those that are mentally challenged and those people that don't know how to relate to people with this type of disability.

[Primavera Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was one where I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either. For me it was just an okay book. In terms of using this book for a young child, I think they would have a hard time grasping the concept of the aunt having a disability. The book did do a good job of not so much focusing on the disability, but instead focusing on who Roo was as a person. The art work helped to depict how Roo was a child at heart. I just feel like this book would be a little hard for young children to understand the full meaning behind it. This is a good book for older children in my opinion. I would not recommend this book to a young reader. I think this book needs some explaining throughout the story to a young child. But the ideology of focusing on the person rather than the disability is a very key element.

[Tiffany Brown]

This book is not only a book that shows disabilities but it is a book of diversity. This is shown in the characters in the story. This book is appropriate for younger children in the way the words work together to tell the story. These word are also complimented by the pictures to tell a well rounded story. This story is realistic because this story can happen to actual people. The young girl in the story is going through a transition of getting older and the aunt is dealing with a disability. The girl struggles with the idea that she is older and her Aunts state of mind is still that of a child. She begins to come around when others are accepting her aunt for who she is. Excellent for all children to respect peoples differences.

[Gabriella Petrillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Keeping Up With Roo" by Sharlee Mullins Glenn is about a story Roo and her niece Gracie. Roo is a grown woman with the mind of a child, and connects with little Gracie right away. Sadly, as the story progresses Gracie becomes older and embarrassed by Roo's antics. I found it sad when reading about Roo in the beginning and how she loved to hang out with Gracie. I was confuses and thought Roo was Gracie's older sister, but the illustration showed how that wasen't the case. They would play games that only children would do together. The story showed how the mind of Roo even as an adult started to collide with Gracie a growing girl.

[Stephany Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Keeping Up With Roo" by Sharlee Mullins Glenn, is a lovely story about friendship. Aunt Roo is Gracie's best friend until Gracie goes to Kindergarten. Aunt Roo is mentally challenged and sometimes acts like a child, but she is kind to Gracie and teaches her many things. Gracie gets so involved with school that she almost forgets about Aunt Roo. When a friend comes to visit, Gracie realizes how much her Aunt Roo has taught her. The illustrations by Dan Andreasen are warm and soft. They help the reader recognize the emotions of the characters. This book is a great way to teach kids about adults who are mentally challenged.

[Emily Krafcik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked how this text addressed an individual, Roo, with a cognitive disability. Individuals with cognitive disabilities often act child-like so I think Sharlee Glenn did an impeccable job with building her characterization. Again, I liked how this text focused more on Gracie and Roo's relationship rather than the cognitive disability affecting her life. I loved the softness of the illustrations because not only did we notice the characters physically, but the empathy and morality in their personality traits. I think this text may be good for a child with a brother or sister with a cognitive disability to explain to them the changes they might experience themselves. A warm, and heartfelt story!

[Jean Grabaskas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about an adult who is mentally challenged. Gracie was good friends with her Aunt Roo, "who has the heart and mind of a child." They played together a lot and Aunt Roo taught Gracie how to read and do math. But as Gracie goes to school and starts to learn new things, she doesn't always want to spend all her time with her Aunt. When Gracie's friend comes to visit, she is faced with the decision of whether to introduce Aunt Roo to her friend. This book shows children how to be accepting of others.

[Mikayla Busse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this story. Gracie grew up on a farm and her aunt Roo, who is mentally challenged, lives there too. Gracie and her aunt Roo are best friends. However, as Gracie gets older, she gets tired of playing childlike games, so she never makes time for her aunt Roo. She also worries about what her friends would think about her aunt's odd behavior. Gracie worries that her relationship with her aunt has changed forever. She does whatever she can to repair it. It is a great story about love and sensitivity to others disabilities.

[Lydia Johns · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I had mixed thoughts about this book of a girl with a cognitively impaired Aunt. I like that the book showed sensitivity about the subject, and I understood the purpose as an adult, but I don't think a child would quite grasp what was happening. In the story, Roo is just like a big kid, because she plays with Grace like another child would. But I'm not sure if a child would understand that Roo is an older woman who just has the mentality of a much younger person. I probably wouldn't choose to read it to a class of children, but it could be good for older kids.

[Senecca Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very interesting to me. It tells the story of a little girl and her aunt who has difficulties cognitively and how she felt embarrassed because of her aunt. When the little girl's best friend came over, she was nervous because of her aunt. However, in the end, they are all playing together and spending time with one another. I would show my students this book to understand that people with disabilities are just like everyone else; they are just a bit different. Also, I really like the illustrations in the book

[Taylor Galloway · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book, that discusses a very important topic in a way that children will understand. This book starts out by bringing readers through the relationship of Gracie and her Aunt Roo. Although Roo is a grown up, she has a mind of a child, so her and Gracie are the best of friends from the moment Gracie is born. They play together up until the moment Gracie starts going to school and starts to make new friends and distances herself. One moment in the book, Gracie is seen with her friend Sarah, and she acts like she does not know who Roo is because she is embarrassed of the way she acts. In the end, Gracie realized what she has done is wrong and goes back to playing with Roo along with Sarah. This is an amazing book to have in the classroom since it teaches students the importance of playing with all children no matter what.

[Emily Beese · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is from a childs perspective about an adult with autism. This is interesting to me because The child in the book had to become the bigger person and include her aunt when playing with her friend. I like this book because ot portrays people with autism in a very positive light. I don't like the book because it makes it seem like people with autism don't grow up. I know a lot of people with autism and they still age and mature.

[Abigail Breaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roo is mentally challenged and has a niece who she helped to raise. When her niece grows up and reaches grades 2-3, a situation arises where she brings a friend over and is momentarily ashamed of Roo. She quickly rebounds from this thinking and learns to be proud to have Roo and that she'd rather include and introduce her. It's a sweet story about loving people with disabilities. I really appreciated it.

[Savanah Malone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a great story about a girl and her aunt that are the bestest of friends. It shows the amount of challenges that are faced from how Gracie is growing up and her aunt Roo is still in stage of wanting to have fun. The two start to grow apart and go through a hard time. This is not really at type of book I would read usually but I'm glad I did because I got to see how challenges were faced between two best friends, and how they overcame it. This book was for Disability Depiction.

[Brooke Milone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gracie has an aunt named Roo, who is much older and is mentally challenged. Gracie loves her aunt, but as she gets older she doesn't want to play school with her aunt Roo as much and plays with her friends. Her aunt Roo gets upset. Gracie brings a friend over who thinks Roo is very weird and doesn't understand her, but then Gracie makes them all play school together.

[KyLee Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book told through Gracie's perspective of her Aunt Roo. Her Aunt Roo is mentally challenged and it was never a problem for Gracie until she hit second grade. She then starts to get embarrassed. Gracie then learns to love and accept people who are different than her. This is a great book for the classroom to teach a good life lesson.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a heartwarming tale about a little girl, Gracie and her mentally challenged aunt, Roo. They are the bestest of friends and do everything together. Eventually Gracie is old enough to go to school and starts making friends. She isn't around her aunt as much which makes the Roo sad. There is a tense moment but in the end, everything works out.

[Brad McClaugherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very sweet book about an Aunt and her niece who also happens to be her best friend. Aunt Ruth has a learning disability, but she and Gracie play together all the time. When Gracie brings a friend home for the first time, she is ashamed of her Aunt at first, but then she remembers her best friend and she invites her to play with her school friend.

[Kelsie Hutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not one of my favorite disability books. I did not like the art and the story line was just okay. I liked the relationship between Roo and Grace, and the different approach to telling a story about a disability but I just didn't think it worked well. This story could be confusing for children because it never says that Aunt Roo actually has a disability.

[Sierra McCorvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gracie loves her Aunt Roo. They have a great time together. As Gracie gets older, she is afraid her friends wont understand her Aunts special needs. This is a great book on love and acceptance. It's worded appropriately for young audiences.

[Logan Wolford · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a sweet and creative plot, but it was not one of my favorites thus far. It is a great story about a girl going into kindergarten but a child at that age could never read this book. Although, it was a good book. The illustrations were impressive and looked real.

[Connie Heneghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sweet story of a little girl who comes to value her aunt who has a special need. The aunt is her greatest companion until she begins to grow up and have friendships and activities that do not include the aunt. At first she is embarrassed by her aunt until...

[Alyssa Santoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very sweet and cute story about Aunt Roo and her niece Gracie. Roo is mentally challenged and she did many things with her niece, until Gracie went to school. This caused Gracie to be embarrassed with her Aunt Roo and this story shows how they overcame this together.

[Mary DelColle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminded me a little of me and my aunt. My aunt does not have a disability but she is my bestfriend. Gracie and aunt roo are best friends and aunt roo is mentally challenged. Gracie is starting to get older and worries that itll start to look weird if she just hangs out and plays with her aunt roo all the time. Gracie doesnt want to leave her best friend behind. This book is good to read to younger students because it shows that if someone is your best friend, no matter if they have a disbility or not, you shouldnt leave them behind if you do not want to. Doing what you want to do and following what you heart wants is what is important.

[Kelly Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gracie has an aunt named Roo, who is much older and is mentally challenged. Gracie loves her aunt, but as she gets older she doesn't want to play school with her aunt Roo as much and plays with her friends. Her aunt Roo gets upset. Gracie brings a friend over who thinks Roo is very weird and doesn't understand her, but then Gracie makes them all play school together.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that the storyline of the book, Keeping Up With Roo, was great. The
relationship between Gracie and her mentally challenged Aunt Roo is very sweet. I think
that their relationship can teach children the importance of mental illness and
communicating with others who may have a mental illness. As I read this book, there
were definitely many places that I felt were boring and lacked in keeping my attention.
This is a heartwarming story, but I also feel like the slow progression of story made it
seem a little boring. I was also not very fond of the illustrations. The cover looked creepy
to me. It depicts the characters very well, but the actual colors and shapes of the
characters seemed a bit dark.