Published in 2021 by Windmill Books, an Imprint of Rosen Publishing

  29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

  First published in 2018 by African Bureau Stories

  Text copyright © 2016 by Portia Dery

  Illustrations copyright © 2016 by Toby Newsome

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

  Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Dery, Portia. | Newsome, Toby, illustrator.

  Title: Grandma’s list / Portia Dery; illustrated by Toby Newsome.

  Description: New York: Windmill Books, 2021.

  Identifiers: ISBN 9781499486315 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781499486322 (library bound) |

  ISBN 9781499486766 (6 pack) | ISBN 9781499486339 (ebook)

  Subjects: LCSH: Responsibility--Juvenile fiction. | Grandmothers--Juvenile fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.D479 Gr 2021 | DDC [E]--dc23

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch #BS20WM. For Further Information contact Rosen Publishing, New York, New York at 1-800-237-9932.

  Fatima was determined to save the day. She was tired of people treating her like a child. “I know what to do,” she said to herself. “I will save the day and be a superwoman!”

  Just then, Grandma Eva appeared with her list of things to do. She looked overwhelmed and tired. She stretched her hands in the air and sighed. “How I wish God would send an angel to help me.”

  This was the golden opportunity Fatima had been waiting for. She knew exactly what to do. She ran up to Grandma and she said, “Hey, Granny, I can help you with that list!”

  “You?” exclaimed Grandma. “But you’re too small.”

  “I am taller than most of my friends,” answered Fatima.

  “But there are a lot of things on that list, and you’re only eight.”

  “Eight an' A HALF, Grandma!”

  Fatima was fed up with everyone in the family thinking she was still a child. She was never considered when it came to serious work in the house.

  “I said, I can!” Fatima insisted. “Look here, I can read everything on your list!” she went on, grabbing the list from Grandma’s hand.

  “Okay, let’s see then.”

  In a loud, excited voice, Fatima read.

  “Do you really understand everything on that list?” Grandma asked, looking at her old watch. It was getting late; there was no hope of finding someone else to run the errands for her. She had an appointment in town and she still had to find a cab at the station.

  “Of course, Grandma! Just say yes, please!” begged Fatima.

  “Okay, darling. I am late and the errands shouldn’t be too difficult for a smart girl like you. Be careful!”

  “Thanks, Grandma!” Fatima beamed with joy.

  “I will be back in no time!”

  Fatima was excited. She ran all the way to the grocery shop without stopping. She didn’t even stop when Helen and her friends invited her for a drink of bissap. They shouted, “Fatima, come and play with us!”

  She kept a straight face and said, “I am very busy today.” She was determined to do everything on Grandma’s list in time.

  She didn’t even stop to watch the children mold clay into toys, nor did she stop to beg the bigger boys for mangoes.

  Fatima smiled when she thought how proud her mother would be when she heard how Fatima had saved the day.

  “Hello, Fati!” Mr. Henry the shopkeeper said. She hated the name Fati; it made her feel younger than her age.

  “Hello, sir, I have a few things to buy.” She wore a serious look.

  “Really? Let’s see what you want, then.” He smiled.

  “I have the list here.” She dipped her hand into her pocket. Deeper her hand went, but the list wasn’t there. She quickly checked the other pocket, but it was empty too. She turned her pockets inside out, but only the money Grandma had given her fell out.

  “Is there a problem?” Mr. Henry asked, concerned.

  “I can’t find Grandma’s to-do list,” answered Fatima.

  “You can always come back later,” Mr. Henry suggested.

  But there was no way Fatima would go back home without buying Grandma’s things: that would be admitting that she was still a child who could not even run simple errands on a list.

  “NO!”

  “I remember everything on the list. I memorized it,” said Fatima.

  “Really? You’re a smart girl, then. Tell me, what was on the list?”

  “Hmm … Grandma asked me to buy flour.“

  “Which type?” Mr. Henry asked.

  “Are there different types of flour?”

  “Yes, dear.”

  “Corn flour.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Very certain, sir.”

  “Okay. And what else?”

  “Sugar and a full chicken.” She was excited. “I remember very well now!” Fatima was sure she was right.

  “Here they are.” Mr. Henry handed her the corn flour, sugar, and chicken. “Say hi to your grandma and the family.”

  “I will. Thank you, sir,” she said, running out.

  Fatima was happy. She had finished the first part of her errands very quickly, so she ran all the way back home. When she arrived, she was out of breath.

  Agnes was in the yard, chatting with two friends. “Here is what Grandma asked me to buy for you,” Fatima said, feeling very important. “And she says you should prepare palm nut soup with chicken.”

  “Okay,” answered Agnes, distracted. She didn’t bother to ask why Grandma suddenly preferred chicken instead of beef, nor to check the items. “Put them in the kitchen!” she said to Fatima.

  Fatima didn’t mind at all. She went straight into the kitchen and poured the sugar into an empty container and the corn flour into the baking flour bowl. She put the chicken in the fridge.

  Uncle Dan was on the veranda playing with his phone. “Grandma says you should feed the goats and free the hens,” she said. Uncle Dan was only twenty years old but Fatima had to call him “uncle” as if he was very old.

  But Uncle Dan didn’t look up, and he didn’t bother to ask why the hens needed to be freed instead of the goats. Instead, he said, “You do that!”

  Fatima didn’t mind at all. She went straight to the backyard. She opened the door of the hens’ coop, and the hens clucked and rushed out. Then she plucked some mango leaves from a branch that had been cut down and pushed it through the hole to feed the goats.

  Finally she delivered her last message. “Grandpa, Grandma says you should plant the peanuts in the garden today.”

  But Grandpa was busy listening to the radio. He scratched his head. “Peanuts?” He didn’t bother to ask why Grandma had suddenly changed her mind about sowing peanuts instead of beans. He simply said, “Okay, I will.”

  Agnes had said goodbye to her friends and was preparing dinner. “When is Grandma coming back?” she asked from the kitchen.

  “I hope she comes soon!” said Fatima, excited, on her way to the gate to be the first to see Grandma when she came back. She couldn’t wait to tell her that she had finished all her errands.

  Later in the evening, the whole family sat around the huge dining table to eat an early supper. Fatima knew this was her opportunity to tell everyone about her busy day.

  “Fatima, are you alright?” her mother finally asked.

  “Yes,” she replied, casting a glance at her grandma. “Grandma, tell them how I ran errands for you!”

  Grandma laughed and said, “We must eat first! Agnes, could you please serve the food?”

  Agnes dished out the palm nut soup with chicken and rice. Then Grandma‘s face dimmed. She stared at the food, looking surprised.

  “I thought I asked you to prepare palm nut soup with beef,” Grandma said, remembering it very well because she had written it on the list.

  “Ooh! This soup tastes different,” announced Grandpa.

  “Oh my God!” Mother said.

  “What is this?” Father asked.

  “Goodness!” Grandma exclaimed.

  “The soup tastes like … there is sugar in it!” Uncle Dan stammered.

  “But how can that be? I put in the salt myself.” Agnes looked confused.

  “Did you taste the food after putting in the salt?” asked Grandma.

  Agnes shook her head. “But … it was salt I put in the soup … ” Then she paused and she suddenly remembered.

  “Fatima!”

  “What has that got to do with me?” Fatima asked.

  “Fati?” Grandma said. “Did you give Agnes sugar instead of salt?”

  Then Fatima remembered. “But you asked me to buy sugar for Agnes.”

  “Me? Didn’t I write salt on that list? Where is the list?”

  “I kept it in my pocket but … I lost it,” confessed Fatima.

  “Fati, if you lost the list how did you run the errands?” Her mother sounded alarmed.

  “I memorized it … well, I THOUGHT I did.”

  Fatima’s heart pounded against her chest. Her dream of saving the day wa becoming a nightmare.

  “Fati!” Mother exclaimed.

  “Fati!” Grandpa said.

  “Faaati!” Father sighed.

  “Fati!” Agnes shouted.

  “FATI!” Uncle Dan cried out.

  “What else did you memorize from Grandma’s list?” Mother asked gently.

  “Well