Full, Full, Full of Love ~ by Trish Cooke, 2003

Full, Full, Full of Love is a wonderful picture book (32 pages), written by Trish Cook and illustrated by Paul Howard.  Bright and colorful pictures tell the story of a Sunday when Jay Jay's Mama leaves him at Grannie's house while she goes to get Dad.

Jay Jay can hardly wait and keeps asking:

"Is dinner ready, Gran?"
"Is dinner ready now?"
"Is dinner ready NOW, Gran?"
"Is dinner NEARLY ready, Gran?"

She finds things to keep him busy, but they are really waiting for the others -- Jay Jay's aunts and uncles, cousins and friends, Mama and Daddy -- to get there.  When they arrive, Jay Jay says:

"Dinner MUST be ready now, Gran!"

And she laughs.

"Mm-mmm, I think it is!"

The book ends with this summary of what we've read about and seen in the illustrations:

Grannie's house is always full,
full of hugs and kisses,
full of tasty dishes,
full of all kinds of fishes,
full to the brim with happy faces,
full, full, full of love.

That's Sunday dinner at Grannie's house!

This book gets a rating of 10 out of 10, because it's one a parent could read over and over to a child, with all the things Grannie had to do to keep Jay Jay occupied while they waited:  putting out the dishes, feeding the fish, spilling the candy tin (no, that was Jay Jay without Grannie's help), watching for the arrival of the cars full of people.  I like this book (can you tell?).