The importance of Granddads
Looking back at some of our books, it struck me how central a role grandparents can have in a child’s life – both in fiction and non-fiction. And, in particular grandfathers (granddad, grandpa, oupa etc) almost seem to be stereotyped as mischief makers egging grandchildren on to do things they would otherwise get into trouble for.
Personally, I don’t recall either of my grandfathers doing such things but they were significant in different ways – one was always deaff until you said something about him or that he disagreed with. Then his eye would open and his verdict spew forth, generally riling his wife. The other taught me the patience (I still strive for) needed to create works of beauty – he was a carpenter.
The books that inspired this short posting in honour of grandparents and grandfathers in particular are:
Michael’s Magic Motor Car by Ray Wooster
Rhys’s adventures by Beatrice Holloway
and the autobiographical Heaven’s Rage by Leslie Tate
Others, unsurprisingly have also had influential grandfathers:
Gus and me: The Story of My Granddad and My First Guitar by Theodore and Keith Richards
And what about Kurt Saxon’s series entitled Granddad’s Wonderful Book on…
Grandfathers provide a link with the past – for grandchildren, the person they know as Grandad, is often a world away from the man he was. I still have difficulty imagining my parents dancing away to the Beatles, let alone what my grandparents got up to.
Sue Hampton‘s Lucy Wilson discovers her grandad in Havoc Files 3.
And for something slightly different: Parables of a Granddad by Jed J Ramsey
A lovely image summing it all up.
My Dad and his great grandchild celebrating Christmas together. Humanity is too diverse & love is too strong for racism & bigotry to survive pic.twitter.com/0TC9K2miqp
— Eddie Marsan (@eddiemarsan) 28 December 2016