Eleo Gordon - The Really Useful Grandparents Book

Illustrations: Julia Connolly
VIKING
an imprint of
PENGUIN BOOKS

Foreword by Nanette Newman

Authors Introduction

Outings

Easy Options

Ancient Egypt

Football

Card Games

Nursery Rhymes

Lets Make Something

Reading is Fun

Family Stories

All Kinds of Poems

Collecting Things

Stamp Collecting

Ancient Stones

Spring

Birds and Bees

Cricket

Easter

Ancient Greece

All About Gorillas

Australia

Captain Cook

Playing Music Together

Virginia Ironside

Ancient Rome

Card Tricks

Magic Tricks

Natural Wonders of the World (Part One)

Classic Stories

The Rattle of Hastings

Cooking

Picnics

Summer

The Seaside

Films

Castles

Ancient China

Canada

Modern Poems

Cards for All Occasions

Athletics

Henry VIII

Camping

Singing Round a Campfire

Rugby

Pirates of the Caribbean

Looking At Paintings

Natural Wonders of the World (Part Two)

Elizabeth I

Shakespeare

Antonio Carluccio

The Great Fire of London

The Deadliest Animals in the World

Potato Printing and Marbling

Sewing

The English Civil War

Rules for Draughts, Chess and Backgammon

Fun and Games

The French Revolution

Slavery

Autumn

London Bridges

All About Birds

Natural Disasters

The Industrial Revolution

Railways

Lucy Lambton

Native Americans

The Wild West

Simple Science

Famous Scientists

Disasters At Sea

Queen Victoria

Fishing

The First World War

Carpentry

Russia

The Second World War

Nelson Mandela

Secret Messages

Famous Explorers

From Carriage to Car

The Olympic Games

Exploring Space

Modern America

Winter

Christmas

Games for Christmas or Other Celebrations

All About Planes

Listening to Music

I Dont Feel Well

Source List and Acknowledgements

VIKING

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL , England

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,

New York, New York 10014, USA

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East,

Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3

(a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.

Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)

Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pry Ltd)

Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre,

Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India

Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale,

North Shore 0632, New Zealand

(a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)

Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd,

24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank,

Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices:

80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL , England

www.penguin.com

First published in 2008

Copyright Eleo Gordon and Tony Lacey, 2008

Nanette Newmans introduction copyright Bryan Forbes Ltd, 2008

Illustrations copyright Julia Connolly, 2008

The moral right of the authors has been asserted

Illustration credits: Library of Congress Catalog for 16-18, 20, 70, 77, 98,105,136, 139,142-3, 170-73, 176,184, 211, 213, 222-3, 233, 235, 245, 247, 258-9, 27072, 2756, 288, 293, 297. Schenectady Museum; Hall of Electrical History Foundation/ CORBIS for 98. Imperial War Museum for 2778. NASA for 294, 313. Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Mr Tod, copyright Frederick Warne & Co., 1912, 2002; Eric Hill, Spot Visits His Grandparents, copyright Eric Hill, 1995: both reproduced by permission of Frederick Warne & Co.

Michael Rosen, On the Train, from Quick, Lets Get Out of Here (copyright Michael Rosen, 1983), reproduced by kind permission of PFD (www.pfd. co.uk) on behalf of Michael Rosen. Roger McGough, The Writer of This Poem, from Sky in the Pie (copyright Roger McGough, 1983), reproduced by kind permission of PFD on behalf of Roger McGough. Allan Ahlberg, Scissors, from Please Mrs Butler (copyright Allan Ahlberg, 1983); Benjamin Zephaniah, Health Care, from Funky Chickens (copyright Benjamin Zephaniah, 1996): both reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd.

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions and would be grateful to be notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future editions of this book.

All rights reserved

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book

978-0-14-188982-5

The first time I heard I was going to become a grandmother it came as quite a shock. Now, having been one five times over, Im an old hand, but the first time it happens, if youre anything like me, youll run through a gamut of emotions: joy, anxiety, anticipation, anxiety, excitement, anxiety and, lastly, relief. There is this small being, incredibly wonderful, your grandchild. It finally sinks in, and somewhere in your brain you start worrying about what sort of grandparent you will be. You so want to be a good one of course you do!

Nanette with her daughters Sarah and Emma, and granddaughters Tilly, Lily and India

When I was small I thought all grandparents were fantastically OLD, drinking endless cups of tea and, in my grandmothers case, knittingtea-cosies or, worse, odd-shaped jumpers I desperately hoped werent for me. (They usually were.)

I dont remember my grandparents playing games with me often, or taking me places, but I do recall my mother telling me to behave and watch my manners when I went to visit them. That said, I loved them and knew they loved me; they were a fixture, a secure and accepted part of the fabric of my growing years.

If, as a child, I had ever been asked to describe my visits to my grandparents, Id probably have said boring but now, in retrospect, I think being bored when youre young is underrated. Im convinced a healthy dose of boredom can trigger a childs imagination. I know it encouraged me to create my own amusements make up games for myself and at times inhabit a private world of fantasy. Perhaps today we parents and grandparents feel vaguely guilty if were not providing non-stop entertainment so are too full-on in supplying ready-made fun.