Granbad by Penny Tangey & Peter Baldwin (illus.)
Granbad – so known because he does ‘bad’ things such as sneaking the grandkids extra lollies, and breaking rules while attending protests to save forests – does not give up when his protest doesn’t work, and I love him for it.
It can be very disheartening when you work really hard to fight to protect something you care about, and your attempts fall on unhearing ears. Watching Granbad steel his resolve and take his protest a step further is encouraging and positive, but the reason this book wins my heart is because there are a lot of books out there showing kids how to be young activists, which is great, but some kids can take it on board a little too much and take on the burden we should be carrying for them.
As Granbad says, ‘Us adults need to take a stand,’ and I think it’s really nice for kids to hear that and know that we’ve got this. A wonderful and funny book great for ages 3+.