Asking Grandad
by Dinah Darby
B-format paperback
88 pages, 129mm x 198mm
ISBN: 978 0 9928554 1 3
Price: £5.99 post free to UK mainland addresses
Publication date: April 2014'They came in that way Toni.' Grandad pointed to the right. 'That night, it was full moon you know.' I looked up at him as he gazed into the distance. 'You could tell they were German planes, because they made a different sound to ours. We were terrified.'
Toni is a tomboy on a mission, determined to find out why Grandad is acting so strangely. She knows something is wrong because he didn't like her new Airfix plane; usually he loved everything she did. Then he wasn't excited about an old Luftwaffe pilot coming to Bath to say sorry for bombing the City sixty-six years ago ... As Toni uncovers more of Grandad's secrets she learns some painful truths about his past and has to face a difficult decision herself.
From the author:
When we moved to Bath in 1999 I didn't know that it had been bombed until the 60th anniversary in April 2002. As someone who is totally fascinated by World War II, I was ashamed of myself for not being aware that it had suffered such destruction and sadness. As I learnt more in Niall Rothnie's book The Bombing of Bath where people recalled the evenings so vividly, the seeds for Asking Grandad started taking shape. Some years later, I watched the BBC documentary The Forgotten Blitz at the same time as my daughter and her friends started making Airfix Spitifres. I looked around for a children's story that would explain the Blitz but unfortunately I couldn't find anything. As their interest grew and I started telling them more about the Blitz they encouraged me to write the story.
Key features:
- A well written short story based upon real events.
- Especially relevant to the City of Bath and its surrounding area, the book will also have national appeal in its reference in the Second World War which affected communities across the whole of Britain.
