I interviewed Tarah L Gear about her book ‘Just Like Grandpa Jazz’!

Yesterday, I was invited back to conduct another interview for the Babipur book club on the Babipur Instagram account. I had the opportunity to chat to the absolutely lovely Tarah L Gear all about her new book which is called Just Like Grandpa Jazz.

Just Like Grandpa Jazz is a beautiful book that follows Frank hearing all kinds of stories from his Grandpa, called Jazz – some real, and some not so real. The story touches on racism and immigration and yesterday seemed like a really poignant day to be talking about the book as it was Windrush Day and there are some very clear links. 

I chatted to Tarah and was able to ask her all kinds of questions about the book. She spoke about how Grandpa Jazz was inspired by her own father who came to the UK from Mauritius to work as a nurse in the NHS. Tarah shared some of her own stories and memories from time spent in Mauritius and explained how she is keen to take her own children to the country to visit. 

We spoke about the gorgeous illustrations throughout the book, and how Mirna, the illustrator had used some really clever techniques! I really think that every single page in the book is a work of art, and could spend hours looking at the pictures. When I first read through the book, both of my twins were utterly captivated by the illustrations as I read to them – the colours are beautiful and I love the way the scenes are portrayed. 

Just Like Grandpa Jazz is the Babipur bookclub book this week, so you can find a thread of people chatting about it in the Babipur Hangout Facebook group if you want to read more about it. If you’d like to watch my interview with Tarah, then you can rewatch it on Instagram here. If you would like to buy your very own copy of this really lovely book, you can do so here!