Until then, like Syd, I shall continue to try and steer my ship safely home, weathering the storms, and filling my own attic of memories with laughter, music, art, books, love and maybe even a giant tortoise teapot. They were excited to discover that the big metal door in the attic led to a tall ship with ‘an ocean of rooftops all around’.

Some thought that, as the island was hot and tropical, Grandad’s ailments had been cured by the sunshine and warmth – explaining the carefree manner in which he cast aside his walking stick. Benji’s books can been read in over forty languages and have sold many millions of copies around the world.They were impressed too with Grandad’s painting and expressed their own longing to visit the island and play in the tumbling, cascading waterfalls with Syd. Syd and his Grandad are going on an adventure – through the door in Grandad's attic to a ship that will sail across an ocean of rooftops to a magical tropical island. I was reading to the class and had reached the part of the story where Grandad tells Syd that he is thinking of staying on the island. They had nudged each other and giggled over all the things they spotted in Grandad’s dusty attic and gasped at the beauty of the island – I had displayed the book on the interactive whiteboard for maximum effect. Was the big metal door in Grandad’s attic of memories and curiosities really a magic portal that turned inanimate objects into living, breathing creatures?

Indeed, in Grandad’s Island, Syd’s journey back home alone is fraught with churning waves and rolling, dark clouds, much like grief itself and the process of saying goodbye to our loved ones. Actually, they were amazed even before that – that Grandad lived at the bottom of Syd’s garden and Syd could visit whenever he wished. They often prompt us to ‘mobilise our memories’, and in doing so remember and treasure our loved ones, whilst making unexpected connections. Perhaps books are a bit like Grandad’s big metal door, leading to worlds full of wonder, adventure and colour.What was especially lovely was the children’s engagement with the book – their investment in the characters, their lines of enquiries and, quite frankly, the pleasure they seemed to derive from exploring each page of this stunningly crafted narrative. Secondly, the children really enjoyed the story, which created a shared excitement and buzz within the classroom.