Author of Grandad’s Camper, Harry Woodgate, speaks about their book being adapted for blind children

With the launch of Grandad’s Camper, our latest Touch to See picture book for blind children, and our first to focus on LGBTQIA+ themes, we spoke with Harry Woodgate, its author and illustrator, about where this story came from, and why they needed to be the one to tell it. 

1. What inspired you to write Grandad’s Camper?

Grandad’s Camper began, in part, as a visual response to a university research project into LGBTQ+ representation in illustrated children’s literature. Considering the historic prevalence of issue-driven narratives around LGBTQ+ personhood in existing children’s titles, some of which implicitly rewarded assimilation or reinforced stereotypes, along with the common use of anthropomorphism as a generalised shorthand for diversity in place of specific, nuanced representation, I wanted to create a story which featured openly LGBTQ+ characters without making their identities the central narrative conflict.

The book was also inspired by stories and treasured memories passed down by my own family; warmly remembered moments from my childhood with grandparents and other older relatives; imagined futures with family members lost too soon. I wanted to capture the unique joy and comfort of grandparent-grandchild relationships: all their brimming potential for mutual learning, healing, adventure. The very young and very old are often overlooked demographics of society, so I wanted their bond to form the heart of the story.

2. How have you found the reception to the book, and do parents and children react to it differently?

Yes, parents and children do often have different reactions to the book. Picture books are unique in that they always have a dual audience, so it’s very rewarding as an author to glimpse how children and adults are brought together through the shared experience of reading.

Many of the messages I’ve received from parents and grandparents have discussed the lack of LGBTQ+ inclusive children’s books when they were young; how meaningful and reparative it is to now have access to stories which accurately represent their families, relationships and identities. The book also often resonates with people who have recently lost older family members, providing a space for comfort, contemplation and a means of initiating conversations with children around bereavement.

Meanwhile, in schools and at book festivals, it’s been a joy and privilege to witness the ways in which children connect so vibrantly with the grandparent-grandchild relationship and the book’s themes of travel and adventure. Sometimes this is through writing postcards about imaginary holidays, illustrating their own dream journeys with friends and family members, or even building model camper vans of their own, but what is always so uplifting is the creativity and energy with which they engage with the story.

3. How do you feel knowing that Grandad’s Camper is now reaching an entirely new audience?

I feel massively honoured and excited that the team at Living Paintings are adapting Grandad’s Camper for blind and visually impaired children. Every child deserves access to books and an environment which encourages and enables reading, yet despite the myriad and well-documented benefits of childhood reading in terms of wellbeing, literacy, creativity, empathy and beyond, far too often the necessary resources to facilitate this just don’t exist.

I’ve always felt that the particular alchemy of picture books is in their multimodality – the combined storytelling power of word and image – so for more children to be able to explore stories through sound and touch feels like such a wonderful and enriching method of translating that experience.