Written by Darron Jon Love.
Tragically the author of these books, Darron Love, lost his battle with depression in December 2019. In order to honour his legacy and help others in his situation, we wish to direct you to his wife’s Just Giving page. They hope to raise money to help fund ongoing support for men with mental health issues, as well as to boost and promote organ donation services.
Annie is a normal 10 year old girl. Her parents often go away to do boring work things, which means she gets to spend lots of time with her hopeless grannies. They’re always up to something and it never quite goes the way it’s supposed to. The most simple of things become complicated in their hands and the consequences are hilarious. Today they’re painting and decorating…
…what could possibly go wrong!
The Author
“Sarah’s advice has been invaluable, she could have just illustrated my first attempt but knew there was more to be had from the story and pointed me towards the right help. Sarah loves her work, her friendly ‘can do’ approach is reassuring whether you’re on your first or tenth book. She quickly understood what I wanted to achieve and the look I was after. Sarah kept me informed and brought me into the whole process, we changed things and sometimes changed them again but I never felt that I couldn’t ask for anything, nothing seemed to be a burden for her. What you see here is the finished article, I’m so proud of the work Sarah has produced, capturing my vision and helping me realise the dream of this project.
When I started writing back in January 2015 Annie’s Grannies was completely different. Back then Annie didn’t exist, while Mary and Sue were still having identity issues. By the middle of that year, I felt I’d written something pretty good and started searching for my illustrator. I trawled the net, found many and emailed very few. Sarah was the only artist that offered everything that I needed as a novice.
I shared my draft with Sarah, the first big step, and although she said she could illustrate it for me, she suggested somebody she’d worked with before, with experience, to cast an eye over it.
This is where Annie’s Grannies really began to take shape. Fast forward to April 2016, several rewrites later and I’m back in touch with Sarah, who not only recalled our previous conversations from almost a year previously but was pleased to hear from me and excited to see the reworked story. I love how Sarah has captured my characters so faithfully and skilfully portrayed their calamitous adventure. I’m excited about the next Annie’s Grannies book and by working along side Sarah, I already know it’s going to be great.”
Annie often has to spend days being looked after by her Grannies, and they seem to get into all kinds of mishaps! Whether it’s painting a door shut, starting fires by accident or pouring eggs and flour all of themselves, the Grannies seem unable to do anything without something going wrong! Thankfully Annie is there to help out, and she always learns a valuable life lesson along the way. These colourfully illustrated books are great fun, with a rhyming story and plots that keep everyone laughing. You can find out more about the author, Darron, by visiting his website.
You can get your hands (or paws….?) on these wonderful books here:
Children’s book illustration/character design
