Grandad's World

It is the beginning of the summer holidays. Jack is looking forward to them. He will be leaving his home in the city to stay with his grandfather in the country. Here the two of them will explore the countryside watching the wildlife both on their walks and from the den they build. When the weather is stormy, Jack and Grandad work on making a bird box in Grandad’s shed. But then the peace of the countryside is shattered by vandals using the local pond as a rubbish dump. It needs Jack’s enthusiasm to galvanise the neighbourhood to clear it up. The holidays end on this positive note and Jack returns, bringing a little bit of Grandad’s world with him – that nesting box they made together in Grandad’s shed

A conversational accessible storytelling voice is brought to life by Foreman’s luminous illustrations. Young readers will easily step into Jack’s world. The relationship between the grandfather and the boy is warm, creating a positive atmosphere. The situation that faces them is one that will be recognised whatever the background of the audience and the solution is potentially simple – a neighbourhood working together. The theme is a familiar one today. Here it is handled with the affection and attractive directness that is such a characteristic of Foreman’s work in which image and text work together. The setting is local drawing attention to wildlife that can be seen without leaving the country, the problem recognisable, the solution possible and at the heart an intergenerational relationship that is warm and loving.