Grandfather’s Island
From the award-winning creator of The Little Bear, a touching story about love and loss.
At first glance, this is a wonderful adventure: Sid goes to visit his Grandfather, and together they discover a door in the attic of the house that leads to the deck of a ship. They set sail and find themselves on a magical, tropical island. They explore it from one end to the other, bathe in the waterfalls, find a hut, and Grandad decides to settle on the island. Sid boards the ship and returns home.
On a deeper level, this book, in an exceptionally subtle way, addresses the theme of losing a loved one with particular tenderness and sensitivity. Sid loves Grandad. Grandad loves Sid. And that will never change, not even when Sid can no longer visit Grandad.
The book has already won the following awards:
-AOI World Illustration Awards 2015 – Children’s Books Professional
-Sainsbury’s Picture Book Award
-Sainsbury’s Children’s Book of the Year 2015
- Pages: 32
- ISBN: 978-960-572-066-7
- Publication: 2015
- Dimensions: 28.5 Χ 25
- Category: Childrens' Books
"...The book isn’t didactic; indeed, it may not be entirely clear. Yet that is precisely what makes it so unique, as it doesn’t seek to burden a child’s mind with the obvious..."
– Katerina Andrikopoulou elniplex.com"...In an exceptionally tactful manner, this book unravels the very sensitive subject of the loss of a loved one. It approaches the subject with particular tenderness and sensitivity and allows us parents to explore the theme of loss, each through our own personal lens and always in accordance with the child’s age...”
– Pepi Nikolopoulou"...Benji Davies’ book may deal with loss, but it is a celebration of life..."
– Eleni Georgostathi"...The book’s core message is that love is not lost. Love remains. Even when our loved ones leave us, they leave their love within us to accompany us and ease the pain..."
– Mama Mamadopoulou, KidsCloud.gr"...Benji Davies gives us all a gift with this writing and these images, in which nowhere does one feel or ‘see’ the sorrow. He urges us to enter the imaginary world of children and, using their own words and ways of thinking, to explain to them the most difficult meanings of life..."
– Eleni Betinaki, Saturday’s Fairy Tales"...Text and images intertwine to create this unique effect for the child-reader. Touching on the sensibilities of every person, *Grandfather’s Island* offers comfort to the child and awakens beautiful memories in the adult."
– Elena Mandila, Artic.gr"...The much-loved author and illustrator Benji Davies creates a story about loss, transports it on a large ship from the bustling city and sets it on a magical island, full of plants and animals, and builds the grandfather’s new home there, where he will live from now on. This journey seems set to be his last, and Sid must return alone to the city and learn to ‘see’ his grandfather through the things they loved doing together. The book has received numerous accolades and awards."
– Red Fox"...A wonderful book, which speaks in the sweetest way of the loss of those we love, of the strength needed to carry on after it, and of the love that is never lost. The love that has the power to connect two hearts even if they no longer beat as one..."
– Marilena Pappa, Rubicube.gr"...The book’s illustrations are among its strongest features, as the brilliant Benji Davies tells us through his pictures what he has not told us with words. Behind the wonderful world in which the child imagines his grandfather, there lies grief, the process of coping with loss, a journey that seems long and difficult, much like the one the child must undertake when he leaves his grandfather’s island on his own. But the strength and memories of the one who has gone will guide the child safely home. Ultimately, a book can speak of death and be a hymn to love and life!"
– Magda Zindrou, Every Day ParentsBenji Davies
Benji Davies is an illustrator, author and animator. His first illustrated book, ‘Noah and the Whale’, won the Oscar’s First Book Prize, the Generalitat Valenciana Best Picture Book in Spain, and the CPNB Dutch Picture Book 2017 in the Netherlands. His second book, Grandpa’s Island, won the AOI World Illustration Awards 2015, the Children’s Books Professional Award, and the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book of the Year 2015. In 2020, he was honoured for a second time with the Oscar’s First Book Prize for his book The Little Dragonfly.
He is the illustrator of the hugely successful series of pre-school books featuring the character Little Bear. He studied animation at university and has worked on illustrated books, short films, music videos and advertisements. His books have been published in more than 35 languages worldwide. He lives in London with his wife Nina. You can find out more about Benji Davies and his books here.
