If you don't count famous people, the Madhouse kids' absolute favourite person in the world is Madhouse Grandad. In fact, he'd probably be pretty high up on the list even including famous or fictitious people too !
Because he does things like this.
And even this !
And a little bit of this too.
Nothing is too silly.
He even let Juliette paint his fingernails pink !
And I love the fact that even though a few decades have passed by, he still does the same silly things that had me giggling when I was a kid. And they still make the Madhouse kids giggle madly too. Who says that modern kids don't know how to have fun without screens and gadgets ?!
Unsurprisingly, as soon as I saw the title of The Dangerous Book For Granddads by JC Jeremy Hobson, I knew it had my dad's name written all over it. It could have been written by or for him !
The book has a very retro vibe going on, which fits in nicely with its target audience. The introduction explains that modern grandads (or granddads as it is in the book - the spelling bothered me to start with but apparently it's the way they spell it in the States. Not sure how an Englishman living in France came to spell it that way though !) have an important role to play in helping get their grandkids away from their screens and out into the fresh air, having good old-fashioned fun.
The book contains 86 ideas for getting into mischief with your grandkids and has some great ideas for days out and activities, such as beach-combing, building a bird box or insect hotel, making a go-cart or tree house, pond-dipping, exploring a big city or the countryside on a bus (great idea as grandad is likely to have a free bus pass), tracking, making a bonfire and foraging. Bear Grylls, eat your heart out ! These are all the kinds of things that I used to love doing as a little girl and, thinking about it now, there are many on the list that the Madhouse kids have never experienced so it's a great source of inspiration for retro-fun that the whole family can enjoy, not just grandparents !
Other projects did seem overly ambitious though, even if I'm sure they'd appeal to grandchildren - keeping chickens, kitchen table cider-making, kayaking and whittling with a penknife may all sound good on paper but I think Madhouse Nanny might have something to say about them !
The Madhouse kids were delighted to flick through the book with Grandad and there were frequent squeals of "oooh we could do that" or "that would be funny".
The numerous black and white photos showing how grandads lived and played when they were children are also a great way of showing modern kids how life was back then and could lead to lots of interesting and enriching conversations.
My favourite photo in the whole book is this one though. Madhouse Grandad, don't even think about it !!
star rating : 4/5
RRP : £16.99
- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: RHE Media Limited (16 Nov. 2015)
- ISBN-10: 1910226416
- ISBN-13: 978-1910226414
Disclosure : We received the book in order to write an honest review.
My husband received this book as a gift, and we love it....the Retro feel is brilliant....love the photos and the illustrations....~~Get out there Grandad and have a ball!!!
ReplyDeleteLOL Bring it on !!
DeleteVery cool Grandad and Dad you have! He looks like a perfect company for your kids. Super photos!
ReplyDeleteHe certainly is ! They don't see him that much but they always manage to make some special memories every time they do ! :)
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