Author, lecturer and Cambridge graduate Yoav J Tenembaum’s latest book is a children’s story titled Why Does Grandpa Walk So Slowly? – and it is due to be published tomorrow (28 November).
The heart-warming tale, which dwells on the loving relationship between a grandfather and a grandson, was inspired by real events.
Argentine-born Yoav is now a lecturer in international relations at Tel Aviv University, Israel. He spoke to the Cambridge Independent from his home in the Israeli city.
On the subject of Why Does Grandpa Walk So Slowly?, Yoav, who studied for a master’s in international relations (MPhil) at St Edmund’s College, Cambridge, in 1981-82, and loved his time there, says: “As a matter of fact, it is based on dialogues that actually took place in reality, with my grandson.
“But it’s a combination of reality and fantasy.
“So on the one hand you have dialogues that actually took place in reality, but on the other hand you have dialogues that didn’t take place, and couldn’t have taken place, in reality.
“It’s basically about the loving relationship between a grandfather and his grandson.”
Yoav says he hopes the book will help children to understand the “tenderness of the grandfather, grandson relationship”, adding: “But beyond that, I think, the fact that you can have different perspectives on a given issue and the fact that people have to be accepted as they are, so that would be the implied general message.”
Yoav, who also did a doctorate in modern diplomatic history at Oxford, has two grandchildren – a boy and a girl. Did his relationship with his own grandfather also inspire the book?
“That’s an excellent question. As a matter of fact, I only knew one grandfather, and I had a close relationship with him…
“Maybe you’re right, I hadn’t thought about it, to be quite candid with you. Maybe to some extent, yes…
“I may be wrong on this, but I also think that the relationship between a grandfather and a grandchild changes also with the years.
“The relationship between my grandfather and myself was somewhat different from the relationship between myself and my grandchild, because things change and grandchildren tend to be perhaps a bit more informal with their grandparents than it used to be, I don’t know…
“Even though my grandfather was very warm and nice to me etc, I would say that there was still a bit of distance – certainly compared to my relationship with my grandchild.”
Yoav says his grandson was “very moved” by the book.
“He was so moved that he took the book to his school in London to show it to his friends and to his teacher,” he notes.
“The most moving thing about this book [for me] was when I heard that my grandson was extremely moved after reading the advance copy – that was the best part of the process.”
During his time at Cambridge, Yoav was informed that he was the only Argentinian student there during the Falklands War of 1982, which he says was “quite an experience”.
“I can tell you that I was astonished at the treatment I got – I mean people were so nice to me,” he remembers.
“I was treated so well by everyone, from my supervisor at Cambridge to people in the street.
“I remember when I left, after the war, I came to visit Israel because my grandparents were here, and I remember at the airport people used to ask me, when they saw my Argentinian passport, how people treated me.
“And I said I was treated very, very well by everyone. I have such fond memories of how the British people treated me then.
“It was incredible how well I was treated, again particularly by British people – more so than foreigners who were studying at Cambridge, or visiting there.
“I have very fond memories of that period – precisely because of how well I was treated by British people.
“I must admit that I’m an Anglophile; I’ve always been an Anglophile, and that particular personal experience only enhanced my liking of Britain and the British people.”
Yoav, who says he was last in Cambridge “more than 15 years ago”, has had a number of books and articles published over the years, including a poetry anthology, academic works, and another children’s book.
“I wrote one children’s book back in the 1990s,” he recalls, “which was published, I think, in 1995 and it was called The Planet of Mendaoor.
“It’s about a distant planet which is, on the one hand, very similar to Planet Earth, but on the other hand it’s quite different from Planet Earth. So this is my second children’s book.”
At the present time, Yoav, a fan of English football and of Leeds United in particular, is thinking about writing a sequel to either his first children’s book, or to Why Does Grandpa Walk So Slowly?, as well as planning an academic book about international crisis, the subject he teaches at the university.
Why Does Grandpa Walk So Slowly?, published by Troubador, is available from tomorrow (28 November).
This post was originally published on here
