The Good Granny Guide

Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall is the bestselling author of The Good Granny Guide, as well as many books on plants and gardening. A grandmother of six and the mother of TV chef Hugh, she lives with her husband in Gloucestershire.

Gransnet is featuring excerpts from The Good Granny Guide:

At the park | Days out in town | Divorce | First-timer tips | Granny do's and don'ts | Journeys with grandchildren | Types of granny | Walks

What inspired you to write the book?

When my first grandchild was born, eager to do everything right, I looked through the index of half a dozen of the most popular childcare manuals. Grandparents only got a mention in one book. "There are so many books written for parents," we grandmothers say to each other, "why are there none for grandparents?" Well, there is one now.

I am not a childcare expert or a psychologist. But I am an enthusiastic, loving and closely involved grandmother of four children. I have talked to or corresponded with more than 200 grandmothers and 50 mothers, and all the advice offered in this book comes from the horse's mouth. It is based on the direct, real-life experience of grandmothers and their families, backed up, where necessary, by technical expertise taken from the childcare books our children use.

What are you hoping grans will get from your book? 

It's designed to help you achieve a closeness with your grandchildren to help strengthen the bond you already have. Some of the advice may seem blindingly obvious. You will forgive this if you have ever found yourself opening a cupbaord and then forgetting what you went into fetch, or entering a room and pausing on the threshold to try to recall why you are there. These things happen to grannies. Above all, I hope the book will be read as a celebration of the special grandparent-grandchild relationship.

Buy The Good Granny Guide: Or How to Be a Modern Grandmother

Jane's recipes

Jane is also the author of The Good Granny Cookbook and we're featuring some of her recipes on Gransnet. As her son Hugh says (nepotism, but that's allowed where grannies are concerned) "food and family are inextricably linked, and families that don't make time for the sharing of food, between the generations, will not thrive as they might". Try one of Jane's recipes here:

Somerset chicken | Mum's fish pie | Beans with garlic and pine nuts | Nusskuchen | Cranachan

Buy The Good Granny Cookbook