What Happened to Grandpa

Books spark discussion. As a book club facilitator, I know only too well how a story can lead to conversations about fear, wonder, belonging and so much more. And that is why it’s delightful to see an increasing number of books touch upon themes that help with difficult conversations.

Several years ago, I read Where’s Grandma?, a poignant picture book (though aimed at older readers) about a child’s relationship with a grandparent diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. With my book club three years ago, I read Flying with Grandpa, another book that explores a similar relationship. The conversation that followed was lovely!

And now, I just finished reading What Happened to Grandpa, which I loved.

Big themes in deceptively simple books always make for gorgeous reads, and this picture book by Nandini Nayar fits the bill perfectly. As a creative writing educator, I also often look at books from the point of view of using them as mentor texts, and here, we have lovely examples of showing rather than telling. The author doesn’t tell us that Grandpa has dementia. Instead, we find that Grandpa, who loves words, finds that words are slipping away from him. So he makes up new words. The cupboard is now a ‘secret keeper’. Spectacles are now ‘look sees’.

As more and more things slip away, we’re filled with a mixture of emotions–a sense of yearning for that which is lost, as well as a bittersweet inkling of how it will all end. What Happened to Grandpa is a story that helps us empathise, feel, and remember.