Chocolate!

If they want to praise a book by a Latin American author, they compare it with Marquez, Borges and Cortazar. If they want to praise a children's book, they compare it with the stories of Astrid Lindgren. As a rule, without any reason. You read and wonder what Lindgren has to do with it: it’s not similar either in style, or in atmosphere, or in plot.

But “Chocolate Grandfather” by Karine Abgaryan came as close as possible to this gold standard. The book was written in Russia, but it takes place in Norway, in Oslo, among beautiful colorful houses, in one of which lives a friendly family: parents and brother and sister. One day, a wonderful relative in all respects comes to visit them - a grandfather who works in sweets. He can - no, he must! - eat only jam, cookies, cakes and sweets, otherwise he runs out of energy and literally gets sick. He loves broccoli and porridge so much, but can only afford them sometimes as dessert. But he eats sweets in unlimited quantities and doesn’t even get better from them - he just leaves sticky marks everywhere, even on the ceiling, because this eccentric sleeps, hanging upside down, like a bat. Children immediately fall in love with grandpa, because he is not only so unusual, but at the same time the most ordinary - kind, cheerful, mischievous and sincerely happy to spend time with them.

In this story, like in "Carlson", there is only one magical character, and everything else is real and realistic. And the dramatic collision here is in the clash of interests of the cheerful grandfather Oscar and three harmful old women who hate sweets, and at the same time the whole world. Why? Chocolate Grandpa and his parents have a secret that makes this summer fairy tale a detective story.

"The Secret of the Old Chest" is the second part of "Grandfather", there is more magic, there is even a fantasy storyline, Vikings and a time portal. There is no Lindgren here anymore.

Both parts in one book: here.