Granny and Bean

This atmospheric picturebook is about spending time with those we love, and the pleasures that that come from noticing and experiencing the natural world.

In keeping with weather that most readers would regard as unpromising, Granny and Bean’s encounter with the beach is an active one. They laugh and sing, crouch to greet dogs, paddle in the water, leap over logs, and finish with a picnic on a weed-draped rock. Tactile watercolours invite us to share their experiences (the shuddering wave-foam, the sharpness of the dune grass, the grittiness of the sand…) and a sense of scudding wind and wetness pervades every spread. At all times, though, Granny manages to be wonderfully positive, and we watch Bean learning to be just as appreciative and observant.

Karen Hesse’s lyrical and uplifting text has been carefully crafted to reflect the rhythms and vocabulary of everyday speech, ensuring accessibility alongside a sense of quietly epic grandeur. Rhyming verse keeps the action moving and helps those sharing it to read aloud with confidence and style, and the large, clear font enables interested children to connect spoken and printed words.

Despite their impressionistic approach, there’s a realistic feel to Charlotte Voake’s illustrations. Granny’s yellow mac and Bean’s red trousers pop against the grey beachscapes, but otherwise these atmospheric watercolours are as muted as the conditions. Many of the spreads take a long, wide-angle view, often from a raised perspective, rather than focusing close-up, and this sense of ‘watching from the dunes’ invites us in, as does the presence of other, unidentified walkers. Who are they? Could we join them on this beach and make memories of our own?

Granny and Bean invites the very young to share their experiences (of weather, the seaside, time with loved ones…) and gently primes them to notice and enjoy the natural world. Their eyes may not be drawn to this book among other, more brightly-coloured titles, but time in its company will be well spent. Voake’s illustrations are perfect to grow on, evoking layers of memory and experience, and Granny and Bean would make a rich starting point for creative work with older audiences.

One of the lovely things about this book is its gentle advocacy for the quiet benefits of attention, observation and reflection. There is no heavy-handed moral here, but important lessons are woven into every page. Wonderful memories can be created anywhere, and days out don’t need to be expensive (or even warm and dry…) to be a hit.