Harry Woodgate is the Stonewall Honor, British Book Award, and Waterstones Children's Book Prize award-winning author and illustrator of Grandad's Camper, Grandad's Pride, and Timid. Inspired by their university dissertation which revealed a lack of representation for older LGBTQIA+ characters in children's books, Grandad's Camper and Grandad's Pride lovingly portray queer elders. Harry writes and illustrates diverse, inclusive stories that inspire young readers to be inquisitive, creative, kind, and proud of what makes them unique.
Before they were Grandad and Gramps, two young men, waving a
rainbow flag from their pink VW bus, were a romantic couple,
traveling the world-or at least Europe-together, camping under the
stars. Grandad, white, and now balding, recounts their adventures
to his young grandchild who hangs on every word. The grandchild,
with long curls, is Black, as was Gramps, who has passed away. That
child is inspired to help Grandad dust off the old camper/bus in
the garage, give it a new blue stripe, change a tire, and start out
for new adventures. Woodgate's explosively colorful scenes center
most of the book on the men, with snapshot after snapshot of their
loving life together. That leaves the child's role (and there is no
mention of parents, or even that Grandad and Gramps had children)
as brackets to the piece, only becoming an active part of the story
at the end. Still, there is a wholesome gentility to every page, of
enjoying every minute, even in memory, of growing sweet cherries in
the garden, and of filling a home with mementos and stories. The
book reflects on an aspect of mature gay life, a piercing sense of
loss, and in the child, of the possibilities still to be found.
VERDICT For the hope for new adventures, and the glimpse of
intergenerational kindness and understanding, this lovely book
should be on every shelf.-- "School Library Journal, STARRED
REVIEW"
There are some fine picture books out there revolving around a
child's experience of loss, but there aren't many designed to help
kids understand someone else's grief. With the affecting Grandad's
Camper, Harry Woodgate takes a step toward reducing that deficit.
To do so, they enlist a groovy pink and white camper with a zippy
blue stripe as a symbol of both the past and moving on.
The art throughout Grandad's Camper is dashing, the layouts somehow
chockablock and yet never too busy. Geometric elements create an
orderliness that allows for the book's boundless palette. When
Grandad reflects back on his life with Gramps, his memories take
the visual form of vignettes showing the younger versions of the
men--Grandad white, Gramps with the same brown skin tone as the
girl--on the road, at home, or enjoying the great outdoors, but
always delighted to be together.
This picture book, in which a girl helps her grandfather embrace
life again following the death of Gramps, may well aid young
readers in understanding others' grief.-- "Shelf Awareness"
This road trip has been a lifetime in the making. Readers are
introduced to a young, brown-skinned, curly-haired protagonist on a
visit to their White grandfather's cottage. While there, the
protagonist, who narrates, and their grandfather play the usual
games and do the usual activities, but Grandad also tells stories
about how he and Gramps, a man of color who is now deceased, met
and fell in love while traveling in an old VW microbus. Inspired by
these tales, the narrator encourages Grandad to fix up the van, and
the two take it for a road trip to the beach. This is a quiet story
that speaks volumes, and astute educators and storytellers will be
able to use the book in both intimate storytimes and with larger
groups. Caregivers, especially older ones, may see this book as an
opportunity to talk about departed loved ones and introduce their
happy memories to a younger generation-many a family will find
themselves pulling out photo albums to relate their own origin
stories. The artwork is enticing and rich, and readers will be
happy to pore over the pages studying details like Grandad's
friendly dog and the textured backgrounds as they read and reread
the story. This book deserves pride of place on any bookshelf, be
it in a library, school, or home. As warm and friendly as a kind
grandparent. -- "Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW"
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