In 'The Sour Cherry Tree,' a child keeps memories of her late grandfather close

https://www.npr.org/2021/12/18/ [login to see] /the-sour-cherry-tree-childrens-book-naseem-hrab-nahid-kazemi
The Sour Cherry Tree is a story about a little girl the day after her grandfather died. She's walking through his house, trying on his slippers, searching his pockets for mints, remembering his favorite tea and the fig cookies they used to share — finding comfort in her memories of her grandfather.

"She's sort of cherishing each moment," says author Naseem Hrab, who based The Sour Cherry Tree on memories of her own grandparents.

"My grandfather would always give me Fig Newtons, which I did not like at all," Hrab says. "But I always took one because we didn't share a language."

Her maternal grandparents are from Iran and speak Farsi, and her paternal grandparents are from Ukraine and speak Ukrainian. Hrab never learned either language.