When Grandad Was A Penguin
Hood’s delightful picturebook immediately invites the reader in on a joke that runs and develops throughout the story – what on earth could be making Grandad do all these strange and hilariously aquatic things? The reader’s suspicions rise as Grandad spends a lot of time in the bathroom, slides down bannisters and cosies up in the freezer, and, when the zoo suddenly calls one day, the (quite literally) fishy events begin to make sense at last.
The magic of this book undoubtedly lies in the playful relationship between the words and the images. The slow pace of the narrative gives time for the reader to take in the illustrations at leisure: the simple, clear and deliciously textured ink and lino prints bring out the wordplay in the text, which even the youngest of readers will surely adore. The minimalistic, yet far-from-ho-hum pictures of icy blues and bold reds are filled to the brim with humour and quirky gags, ranging from large double-page spreads to smaller sets of images.
Designed to be read out loud, the story of the girl narrator and the bespectacled penguin-Grandad captures the wonderful and special relationship between a grandchild and a grandfather. From the front cover to the end pages, the book contains a carefully thought-out and subtly executed story arc that leaves both the adult and child satisfied. It takes the reader on a journey that flows along a stream of surprises and culminates with a happy ending – and a twist involving a few flamingos.
