Review: Finding Granny by Kate Simpson and Gwynneth Jones

#FindingGranny #blogtour #BooksOnTour #Day2

Welcome back to the blog tour for the heartwarming book, Finding Granny! Grab a cuppa and a warm blanket, and find out why this story is so special. 💐 🌸 🍦 🎨

Finding Granny, Kate Simpson (author), Gwynneth Jones (illus.), EK Books, July 2018

Blurb:

Edie’s Granny is a perfect Granny – she’s warm, loving and all things fun! But then she has a stroke, and suddenly, the Granny that Edie knows isn’t there anymore.
Or is she?
A heart-warming story of love and hope… and coping with life’s challenges.

Review:

Hope, rather than despair. Love, rather than resentment. Evocative and touching. Finding Granny is a memorable read about the impact of change through illness, and the shining light that is very possible to find in a challenging situation.

Kate Simpson tells this sensitive story with humility, whilst at the same time, with the spirited conviction as perceived through young Edie’s eyes. Her light-hearted language allows us in to this young girl’s world and her fun-loving, dependable relationship with her sharp and versatile Granny. She’s a “playtime Granny, a bedtime, story-time pantomime Granny, an I’m not afraid of some slime Granny.”

Whilst the mood shifts as Edie’s, and her family’s, familiarity with what she knows is swung from comfortable to confronting, the illustrations remain a constant depiction of peace and vibrancy. Gwynneth Jones ensures a gentle yet playful feel with her uncluttered, fluid and sometimes humorous watercolour and line paintings. Her style perfectly represents the same refreshing and uplifting sense that Edie’s Granny benefits from in her Art Therapy classes after her stroke.

The rounded plot line gives a beautifully heart-warming hug to its readers with the characters’ acceptance and determined spirit, and Edie’s joy in the realisation that, despite the changes, Granny was never lost.

Finding Granny is like a therapeutic embrace, highlighting  the power of a strong intergenerational bond. It certainly facilitates compassion and understanding with its eye-opening themes on illness and disability. Early years readers will ‘find’ this book is one to cherish.

Review by Romi Sharp.

Kate Simpson: website | facebook | twitter

Finding Granny: Booktopia | Boomerang Books | EK Books

Go to Michelle’s Blog for an interview with Kate!

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