This is a book for every first time grandmother. It chronicles the first three years of the author's relationship wth Charlotte, a new granddaughter. Carol Matthews wrote her graduate thesis "Transforming Hags: Old Women in Canadian Literature and Canadian Society" and spent serveral years lecturing and writing about grandmothers from an academic perspective. However, she says in her book, "None of these ideas were of any use to me whatsoever when my granddaughter Charlotte appeared on the scene. From the moment she was born it was clear that Charlotte had entered the world in her own unique manner, and would certainly be meeting me on her own terms." In this heartwarming and entertaining collection of short essays, Matthews' skill as a writer punctuates the wonders of experiencing life from both viewpoints - the special place of the grandmother in the family unit - and the joys, tribulations and larger truths that a tiny granddaughter can bring to one's perspective on everyday life. Carol Matthews lives on Vancouver Island.