Big Papa and the Time Machine

Author(s): Evans, Shane W.

3-5 yrs Picture Books (Hardback)

Discover the true meaning of being brave in this tender and whimsical picture book from Daniel Bernstrom (One Day in the Eucalytus, Eucalyptus Tree ) and Shane Evans (Chocolate Me! ) that follows a grandfather and grandson who travel through time in a beloved 1952 Ford.

A little boy who lives with his grandpa isn't reprimanded for being afraid to go to school one day. Instead, Big Papa takes him away in his time machine-a 1952 Ford-back to all of the times when he, himself, was scared of something life was handing him.

Full of heartfelt moments and thrilling magical realism, Big Papa and the Time Machine speaks to the African American experience in a touching dialogue between two family members from different generations, and emerges as a voice that shares history and asks questions about one family's experience in 20th-century black America.

Wasn't you scared”

“Oh, I was scared,” Big Papa said. “Sometimes you gotta walk with giants if you ever gonna know what you made of. That's called being brave.”


About the Author

Daniel Bernstrom, a visually impaired writer, loves stories that have rhythm and music; stories, as Uri Shulevitz once said, "are the soundtrack to the child's silent film." This story of the eucalyptus tree came to Daniel late one night while working as a janitor at a preschool. The eucalyptus tree (a favorite of his mother's), which grows along the coast of Northern California, tickled his tongue and imagination. The animals in the tree populated the preschool where Daniel worked, waiting patiently atop the shelf at the back for the next day of play. The strange combination of a tickly word and an odd assortment of stuffed animals spawned this undulating syncopated story of impossibility, darkness, and hope.


Product Information

General Fields

  • : 9780062463319
  • : Unknown
  • : UNKNOWN
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Evans, Shane W.
  • : Hardback