Goodnight Grandchild

Goodnight Grandchild (Penguin Random House) Michelle Robinson & Nick East PB RRP $24.99 ISBN 9780241766569

Reviewed by Karen Hendriks

Michelle Robinson loves making up stories and being silly. Her picture book, There’s a Lion in My Cornflakes, won the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Awards. She lives with her family in Frome, an historic market town in Somerset, England.

Nick East has been shortlisted for the English Picture Book Awards. He is a museum designer and has always been a storyteller. Nick lives near York, in Northern England, with his family. When he isn’t drawing, he is out riding bikes and spending time with his family.

This is a new “Goodnight’ bedtime story by the creative team of Michelle Robinson and Nick East in the Goodnight books series – Goodnight Digger, Goodnight Spaceman, Goodnight Princess, and Goodnight Pirate, etc.

‘Our day together’s almost through. Goodnight, Grandchild, I love you.’

Michelle Robinson has written a gentle bedtime story for a grandparent to share with their grandchild when the grandparent is sleeping over. Take my hand and hold it tight. It’s time for us to say ‘Goodnight.’ The rhyming text is light and easy to read aloud to a small child. It quietly tugs on hearts with a simple story. Sharing this book with a grandchild creates a lovely bond between grandparents and grandchildren.

It is part of the series of ‘Goodnight’ books, so a child can choose from a book in the series for a goodnight read. It has a series familiarity. Making memories we’ll both keep… It’s a celebration of a grandchild sleeping over, and we all know grandparents love this. It’s a way for a grandchild to hear loving words from a grandparent with a book. Life’s great fun now you are in it.

Robinson’s lines are short and musical. This is a marketable, sweet book. Grandchild, I’ll love you forever. It is very clever not to mention whether the grandchild is a boy or a girl, giving it greater appeal.

Nick East has created friendly, rounded characters with expressions and movements that are calm and reassuring. There are no harsh lines. The book’s softness matches bedtime. The colours are gentle blues, purples and soft yellows. The bedroom and the rest of the house are cozy and appealing, with the colours dimmed in the evening light. It has a traditional picture book warmth with a contemporary feel. There is wonder, joy, and delight with an illustration focused on moments in the story.  East has captured the generational closeness of a grandparent and a grandchild.

Goodnight Grandchild is a picture book that has a wonderful appeal to both grandparents and grandchildren because it taps into the emotional bond that they share. A loving grandparent and a familiar bedtime routine are soothing and predictable. With each page turn, the book slows down. The words and pictures gently guide attention.  It’s comforting to the children listening to the story and meaningful for the adults sharing it. This book is a lovely read for 0-5 years. It’s also a good book for teachers and librarians to use on Grandparents’ Day.