The Best Picture Books about Visiting Relatives and Relatives Coming to Visit

This book strongly evokes a feeling of being enveloped by the love of visiting relatives. The sparse, sincere story is filled out by the detailed illustrations — they show relatives (both the hosts and the visitors) who don't have appear to have any extra money, but are rich in hospitality.

In this picture book, Donald Crews recalls recalls boyhood summers spent at the home of his grandmother (here called Bigmama) in Florida. Every year the trip began with a long train ride, and the summer was filled with relatives, fishing, and good times.

In this story, Gabrielle, who travels yearly to Grampa's tailor shop in New York City to be measured for a new navy blue coat, wants something different.

Grampa comes up with the perfect solution.

This picture book should get way more attention than it does. It depicts five children, one from each borough of New York City at the turn of the last century, all of whom travel with their parents and siblings to their (mutual) grandmother's house every Sunday. Each family goes by a different means — bicycle (as on the cover), trolley, ferry, and so on. This is a great book about families, about old New York, and about transportation.