One of the most iconic books for children in Aotearoa New Zealand has to be Grandpa's Slippers, by Joy Watson. The tale of an archetypal Grandpa in scratty old cardigan and slippers pottering about the house and garden has been reassuringly familiar to many young readers. How lucky we are then, that there is now Grandpa's Storybook Collection, with all five Grandpa stories compiled in one book.
We begin with Grandpa's Slippers, in which there is an epic marital struggle between practical Grandma and stubborn Grandpa as they engage in gentle combat over his tatty, worn slippers. With escalating repetition, we hear that the slippers are going to fall to bits, that the stitching has come undone, the fluff has worn off and other heinous slipper crimes - but Grandpa continues to declare that's the way he likes them. Grandma is right, of course, and Grandpa knows it, setting them up for an excellent punchline and the next story, with Grandma's practical eye subsequently landing on Grandpa's cardigan.
And so we continue with Grandpa's Cardigan, Grandpa's Shorts, Grandpa's Shed and Grandpa's Cat, all featuring this lovely couple and their everyday life. On Grandpa's quest to find a new cardigan, footsore and disheartened, he happens upon the perfect cardy in the op-shop; and yes, it is the one that Grandma darned and re-buttoned and sent there. Grandpa is off to clear out the shed, but the things he finds prompt so many jobs that his original mission may never be completed. Grandpa just knows he has the perfect beach shorts somewhere, and he turns the house upside to find them. These are some of the themes, narrated with humour and love.
These stories are so comforting and gentle that the reader adopts these grandparents as their own. Gentle, patient, kind Grandma; energetic, single-minded Grandpa. The tales have us wishing for more stories: Did the seeds Grandpa planted come up? What did they do at the beach? What's the cat's name, and did she get down from the tree again?
Joy Watson died last year, and this collection has a lovely foreword about Joy and her husband Kevin, featuring a beautiful illustration of the pair by Wendy Hodder. What a wonderful gift Joy has left us.