An Important Chair Cares for Two Special People in a Poignant New Picture Book From Rebecca Thomas

Inspired by her own upbringing, and particularly by a profound love for her grandfather, Rebecca Thomas has distilled the poignant details of this relationship into a moving picture book that captures a unique family dynamic in a way that will resonate will many young readers.

As with so many of our most important authors today, Thomas did not see her family reflected in the usual fare that she'd find on bookshelves in Canada. So, the author decided to write her own stories, including Grampy's Chair (Annick Press), a children's book told from the perspective of a grandfather's favourite chair. The Chair keeps on eye on My Love, and her Grampy, through the ups and downs of their lives, right up until My Love has to care for Grampy as he grows older. When Grampy is gone, The Chair is moved to another space, and longs to see My Love, leaving the reader to wonder if they will meet again.

This is a heartfelt exploration of love and grief, and the intricate trappings of two peoples' lives, from their own relationship to the objects and routines that underpin it all. Accompanied by lively illustrations from Coco A. Lynge, Grampy's Chair is an important story about how to be found again by the ones we love.

We're delighted to share this Kid's Club BFYP with the author right here on Open Book, so read on!

Open Book:

Tell us about your new book and how it came to be.

Rebecca Thomas:

My new book is about the relationship I had with my grandfather, Grampy, growing up. I grew up with a lot of chaos and neglect. My parents separated when I was very young, I didn’t have a dad in my life in any consistent way and my step father, though dutiful in picking us up and dropping us off at school when my overworked mom couldn’t, took no interest in me or my sister. He had a temper and, honestly, we were afraid of him as kids. But my Grampy? He was perfect. He was gentle and kind and taught me how to cook, do the crossword, to tell time and all those little teachable moments that parents have with their children. He was endlessly patient with me. He never missed a birthday or a milestone. He always noticed when I cut my hair and he told me that I was the only one who noticed when he’d cut his. We had an unshakable bond. I was with him up until he died when I was 19, caring for him in hospital. His absence filled me with such a powerful grief that it rearranged my DNA. But I still feel the lasting effects of his love and attention. He is my moral compass and North Star. I wanted to honour that legacy with this book.

OB:

Is there a message you hope kids might take away from reading your book? 

RT:

I feel like there are many people who would say that this book is about grief. I would counter and say that grief is certainly a character in this book, but it is actually about how a great and profound love can be with you forever, even if the people aren’t.

OB:

Is there a character in your book that you relate to? If so, in what ways are you similar to your character and in what ways are you different?

RT:

I write what I know, for the most part. In Grampy’s Chair, My Love is based on me. I didn’t have any children’s books or TV shows or movies where characters looked like me or where families looked like mine. My grandfather was a white Scottish man with little brown Indigenous grandkids running around and that never felt out of place so it was perplexing as to why I never saw blended families in the media I consumed. Any stories I read about Indigenous ideas were creation myths about the animals or our legends. They never were about kids like me. I wanted to change that. I write about me because somewhere, out there, there is a kid in a blended family held together with glue, scotch tape and love just looking for where they fit.

OB:

What do you need in order to write – in terms of space, food, rituals, writing instruments?

RT:

I tend to think about something and talk about something for a really really long time before I ever write a single word. When I do write, it tends to be all in one go.

OB:

Do you feel like there are any misconceptions about writing for young people? What do you wish people knew about what you do?

RT:

I think there are a lot of people who think young folks don't have the intelligence, resilience, capacity, or interest to understand and engage with hard topics. Be that grief, colonization, gender, or something like racism, kids get it. They are bright and curious and want to learn more. I don’t think we need to shield kids from big topics. I think we need to teach kids how to talk about things they might not understand right away or have limited experience in so they can better support and understand people coming from a different walk of life. 

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Rebecca Thomas is a Mi’kmaw woman registered with Lennox Island First Nation. She is the daughter of a residential school survivor and is an unrelenting advocate for her community. She is an award-winning poet and children’s author, and a former Halifax Poet Laureate. She lives in K’jipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki.

Coco Lynge is a Greenlandic-Danish Inuit artist. She utilizes her expanding knowledge of Greenland and Greenlandic culture to tell and illustrate stories. She lives in Denmark.