Grampa, Will You Tell Me a Story?

The comic strip character Earl Pickles has been one of my regular breakfast companions for many years. Created by award-winning cartoonist Brian Crane, Pickles has been appearing in newspapers for over 25 years and presently can be found in more than 800 newspapers worldwide.

When Earl’s grandson Nelson approaches Earl and asks him to tell him a story, Earl readily agrees but cautions Nelson that he has to listen. The humour in the story comes from the fact that it is Earl, not Nelson, who repeatedly does not listen. As the elderly Earl struggles to find a word to complete a thought, Nelson, taking into account the limited context his grandfather has provided, offers a very logical suggestion. As can be seen from the above excerpt, Earl does not respond to his grandson’s suggestion but instead inserts his own somewhat bizarre word. In a cumulative manner, Earl’s strange, albeit imaginative, tale grows, with this non-listening pattern repeating itself eight times before a very frustrated Nelson comes up with a solution: “Grandma, will you tell me a story?”

Visually, grandfather and grandson share Earl’s familiar comfy easy chair, but, as Earl’s story develops, Crane’s cartoon illustrations also include the action that is occurring in Earl’s story, with Earl and Nelson appearing as observers. As an example, in a pair of facing pages, the lefthand page finds Earl continuing his story, with the text reading:

“I’ll hold it,” said the guy
standing at the edge of
the pool...you know,
the guy that works
at the pool?

The
lifeguard [responds Nelson]

As readers’ eyes move across to the right hand page, they will find Earl and Nelson standing at the edge of the pool, with the text reading:

Yessiree, the
hot dog vendor!

One of Earl’s hands appears to be reaching for money in his pocket as the pair are approached by the story’s hot dog vendor, a hot dog in hand.

Understandably, Nelson’s response is:

What?
Can you
even hear
me?

Grampa, Will You Tell Me a Story? text and illustrations offer readers much fun, and the book’s large font and oversize format (30 cm x 29 cm) make it perfect for group read-aloud times. Parents, teachers and librarians could also read the story aloud and invite their listeners to fill in the needed word before providing Nelson and Earl’s responses.