Finding Granny by Kate Simpson and Gwynneth Jones
EK Books, 2018. ISBN 9781925335699
Edie's Granny is "a playtime Granny, a bedtime, story-time pantomime
granny, as I'm not afraid of some slime Granny." She loves Edie and
Edie loves her. But when she has a stroke and has to spend a long
time in hospital, Edie is confused by her 'new' Granny. Her Granny
doesn't need help eating her dinner!
Gradually, Edie discovers that even though this Granny is a bit
different in some ways, at her heart she is still the same - a love
as fierce as a lion Granny.
With stroke being the third leading cause of death in Australia and
one of the top 10 leading causes of death among people aged 45 and
over, Edie's predicament is one that is faced by so many of the
children in our care and so this is a really important book that has
to be in the collection. It's superbly chosen text describes Edie's
and Granny's relationship perfectly in a unique way so that the
reader automatically sees that this is a close and loving
relationship; the wordless page that just shows the ambulance with
its lights flashing; and the simple explanation by the doctor that
Granny's "brain isn't working the way it used to" are all that is
needed to set the scenario for the big changes and challenges Edie
is going to have to face. Coupled with illustrations that show the
emotions that don't need words, this could be any child who is
confronted by this situation - any one of them could be Edie.
I know from recent experience how confronting and difficult it is to
see the impact of age and illness on a loved one and to come to
terms with this 'different' person, establish a new relationship and
burrow down to the love that is still there albeit not so evident at
times - and that is as a mature adult. So it is even trickier for a
child, although, again from experience, they seem so much more able
to cut to the chase and work with what they are presented with, just
as Edie does. Nevertheless, there can be some confusion about
feelings - "That's not my Granny," says Edie when she first sees hers
in hospital - and so to learn that these are natural, acceptable and
shared by other children will bring comfort and together, like Edie,
they can move forward and develop a valuable, if different,
relationship that still has love at its core.
A book that should spark conversations and bring comfort . . .
Barbara Braxton