Chocolate!

When people want to praise a book by a Latin American author, they compare it to Márquez, Borges and Cortázar. When they want to praise a children's book, they compare it to the stories of Astrid Lindgren. Usually with no grounds whatsoever. You read it and wonder what Lindgren has to do with it: it's nothing like her in style, atmosphere or plot.

But "The Chocolate Grandpa" by Narine Abgaryan comes as close as possible to that gold standard. The book was written in Russia, but the story takes place in Norway, in Oslo, among pretty, colourful little houses, in one of which lives a close-knit family: the parents and a brother and sister. One day a relative who is wonderful in every respect comes to visit: a grandpa who runs on sweets. He can — no, he must! — eat only jam, cookies, pastries and candy, otherwise his energy runs out and he literally falls ill. He loves broccoli and porridge so much, but can only allow himself to have them now and then, as dessert. Sweets, on the other hand, he eats in unlimited amounts without ever gaining weight — he just leaves sticky marks everywhere, even on the ceiling, because this oddball sleeps hanging upside down like a bat. The children fall in love with their grandpa at once, because he is not only so unusual but at the same time the most ordinary grandpa — kind, cheerful, mischievous, and truly happy to spend time with them.

In this story, as in "Karlsson", there is only one magical character, and everything else is real and realistic. The dramatic conflict here is the clash between cheerful Grandpa Oscar and three nasty old ladies who hate sweets, and the whole wide world along with them. Why? The Chocolate Grandpa and the parents share a secret that turns this fairy-tale summer story into a mystery.

"The Secret of the Old Chest" is the second part of "Grandpa"; it has more magic, even a fantasy storyline, Vikings and a time portal. No Lindgren here.

You can enjoy these treats here.