Grandad's Island by British author-illustrator Benji Davies (The Storm Whale; Bizzy Bear series) celebrates a close grandfather-grandson relationship with warmth and style. Whether it's read as a picture book about love, loss or just missing someone who isn't around anymore, it's a charmer. Cheerful cinematic spreads invite young readers into all sorts of intriguing places, from a cozy attic full of curiosities like a turtle teapot, to a vast ship's deck, to the deep jungle of an island paradise.
The book opens as Syd pays a visit to his Grandad's house, just out the back gate from his own house. He hears his grandfather call him from an upstairs attic he's never seen before, and the two of them (three, counting the gray kitten) enter a big metal door--surprise!--and emerge onto the deck of a tall ship. The ship takes them across rolling waves to a lush tropical island teeming with wild animals, including an orangutan that looks curiously like a stuffed toy in Grandad's attic. They fix up an old jungle shack, with help from a toucan and some parrots, and Grandad, an artist, paints the wonders around them. It's perfect. When Grandad tells Syd he's thinking of staying put, the boy asks, "But won't you be lonely?" With all those smiling jungle animals? Maybe not. They hug "one last time."
Back at Grandad's house, it's quiet, and the big metal door is gone. But what's this? A jungle toucan taps on the attic window, bearing a little painting from Grandad, "For Syd." No matter the interpretation, Grandad lives on. --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness