Grandma Forgets

When your grandmother can’t remember your name it should be sad, but maybe it is just an opportunity to tell her more often how much you love her. Grandma Forgets is the heart-warming story of a family bound by love as they cope with their grandma’s dementia. Over the years, the little girl has built up a treasure trove of memories of time spent with Grandma: sausages for Sunday lunch, driving in her sky-blue car to the beach, climbing her apple trees while she baked a delicious apple pie, and her comforting hugs during wild storms. But now, Grandma can’t remember those memories. She makes up new rules for old games and often hides Dad’s keys. Sometimes Dad is sad because he has to hold onto the memories for both him and his mother now, but fortunately his daughter is only too happy to help him make new memories to share. This is a warm, hopeful story about a family who sometimes needs to remind their grandmother a little more often than they used to about how much they care. She might not remember any of their names but she will always know how much she is loved.

Paul Russell has always been passionate about stories, even before he could read. Determined never to grow up and lose his imagination, he is a teacher, playwright, father, artist and author but maybe not always in that order. He is passionate about children’s literacy and in building an appetite within children for the written word. Paul is also a dyslexic. He was inspired to write My Storee because, as a child with dyslexia, he wasn’t supposed to want to read or write, but he did — all because he had one teacher who believed in him and a family who supported his creativity. My Storee is his second picture book for EK, following on from the much-loved Grandma Forgets with Nicky Johnston as illustrator.

Nicky Johnston is a primary educator, speaker and children’s book author and illustrator. Passionate about raising awareness of the importance of children’s emotional well-being, Nicky has written books to help children deal with anxiety and develop resilience. She is an experienced public speaker and presents at parent forums, seminars and conferences. Her illustration style is described as whimsical, playful, narrative, emotive and dreamy. She works mainly in watercolor, ink and pencil. She also produces work digitally using a variety of illustration software. Nicky’s first children’s book Go Away, Mr Worrythoughts! was adapted into a theatrical production. For five years the show has been performed at primary schools throughout Victoria, educating children dealing with anxiety and helping to develop a healthy resilience. For four years, Nicky was the Creative Director of 52-week Illustration Challenge Facebook group. This online Illustration Challenge inspires a community of artists and illustrators to create artwork using weekly theme prompts while providing a safe and encouraging environment for personal artistic development.