![Heidi and her Grandfather [cropped] by Jessie Willcox Smith](https://susannahfullerton.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Heidi_and_her_grandfather-1500x843.jpg)
Suggested reading list for
GRANDPARENTS IN LITERATURE — A reflection on fictional grandparents
In Johanna Spyri’s famous novel, Heidi, Grandfather is what so many grandparents are for children, both in life and in fiction – a source of love and kindness, a mentor and giver of knowledge and experience, a person who has time for the orphaned child and provides her with a stable home, and a symbol of continuity and the passing of time. Lately, I have been giving some thought to grandparents in literature.
I love to recommend books that I’ve read and enjoyed, so here’s my list of great reading about grandparents.
If you haven’t read my Grandparents in Literature Literary Snapshot you can purchase it here.
“When grandparents enter the door, discipline flies out the window.” Ogden Nash
THE IMPORTANCE OF GRANDPARENTS
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera
“Every house needs a grandmother in it.” Louisa May Alcott
GOOD GRANDPARENTS
Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook by Joyce Lankester Brisley, Joyce Lankester Brisley (Illustrated by)
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht
The Chronicles of Barsetshire by Anthony Trollope
He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope
Susannah Fullerton Brief Encounters: Literary Travellers in Australia 1836-1939
Susannah Fullerton Twain and Trollope in Oz
“If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren, I’d have had them first.” Lois Wyse
BAD GRANDPARENTS
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope
“Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.” Alex Haley
ECCENTRIC GRANDPARENTS
One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
Sylvester by Georgette Heyer
A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O’Connor
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (Illustrated by)
George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (Illustrated by)
The Crow Road by Iain Banks
Susannah Fullerton Georgette Heyer: Complete to a Shade
Susannah Fullerton Roald Dahl’s 100th birthday
Flannery O’Connor Reads “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” (1959)
“Never have children, only grandchildren.” Gore Vidal
AUTHORS AS GRANDPARENTS OR GRANDCHILDREN
How to Be a Grandfather by Victor Hugo, Timothy Ades (Translated by)
Tales of a Grandfather by Sir Walter Scott
The Garden Party: and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield
Susannah Fullerton Finding Katherine Mansfield audio CD
Susannah Fullerton Of Claire Tomalin and Katherine Mansfield
I only recommend books I have read and know. Some of these links are my affiliate links. If you buy a book by clicking on one of these links I receive a small commission. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but does help cover the cost of producing my free newsletter.
Do you know of other memorable ‘grandparents in literature’? I’d love to hear your suggestions so please let me know in the comment area below.
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