Grandpas make a lot of strange noises. There’s ‘schluuupglubshlurrrpglub’, ‘creak pop’, ‘hooonkkkkkkksnnoooortttttt’, and of course ‘eeeaswoscrreech!’ But what on earth do they all mean? Join Grandpa on his daily adventures to learn why he makes all of his mysterious noises.

From thanking Grandma for a cup of tea to saying hello, Grandpa has his own unique way of expressing himself. Children will love finding out what each creak and pop means, and will be able to understand their own grandparents even better! Of course, the noises coming out of Grandpa’s bottom will also provide hours of entertainment.

In Grandpa’s Noises, a range of sounds and words coming from body and mouth are explained through a warm, funny and colourful ‘day in the life’ story. Children look at life with open, honest eyes but sometimes it takes a bit of thinking and code-breaking to work out what’s really going on. Vibrant illustrations and lively lettering combine to provide a ‘Grandpa dictionary’ so that readers, along with Grandpa’s cat and particularly in-the-know grandchild, can discover just what his various exclamations mean. Afterall, once you know that ‘eeeawoscreech!’ is actually the sound of a misbehaving hearing aid, Grandpa becomes a lot less scary and even more lovable!

Gareth St John Thomas has been immersed in the world of books since he started working in his father’s publishing company at the age of 6, packing books. His publishing career has taken him around the world, and since founding Exisle Publishing 29 years ago, he has seen the company grow to distribute its titles in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Now, his mission with Exisle is to bring books into the world from voices that otherwise wouldn’t have been heard, and to give readers something with heart. Gareth's love of seeing the world through the eyes of a child influenced the development of Exisle's children’s picture book imprint, EK Books, while his education as a historian has guided his approach to publishing social history books throughout his career. Gareth has written other adult and children’s books including Finding True Connections and Cats Work Like This.

Colin Rowe is a graphic designer and illustrator who has worked in various design and advertising agencies and now runs his own company, Corvus Design Services. He studied Graphic Design at Plymouth College of Art before working in advertising, exhibition and design studios. In the summer of 1985 he established his own studio, Corvus Design Services. Throughout his career, Colin’s images for children have appeared in a multitude of marketing publications and products throughout the UK. Grandpa’s Noises is his first adventure into children’s book illustration.