Over the River and Through the Woods is a true-life tale, lovingly and humorously told, about the pleasures and pitfalls and pratfalls of grandmotherhood.

Using her own experiences and the experiences of other grandmas, from her childhood friends to 100-year-old Grandma Carmilla, retired journalism professor and freelance journalist Louise Mengelkoch reveals a world that every grandmother knows and every would-be grandmother would do well to understand.

From adroitly dancing around the parenting choices of her adult children; to the glowering presence of a grandson sentenced to take her to school on grandparent's day; and the fumbling attempt to console the grandchildren as they watched the passing of their beloved granddog, Lucie, Mengelkoch shows us that grandmothering is more than kissing boo-boos and baking cookies. It is a journey, every bit as exciting, but equally as unexpected as parenting, and with a character all its own.

Over the River and Through the Woods pulls back the curtain on one of life's most romanticized experiences. Once you read it, you will never again look upon the role of the iconic beloved grandmother in the same way.