By Tara Maher
“What I learned from my Uncle” is written by Regina Grosbois.
A native of Kyrgyzstan, she is a French-American who currently resides in Kinsale. One of her favourite things to do is create cartoons of the people around as animals. These cartoons are silly, melancholic, funny and full of imperfections as most adults are. Until recently they existed only as sketches and paintings but now, are beginning to appear in English and French children’s books. “I enjoy painting and creating a children's book has been something I've been wanting to do for a while now. Finding time has been the roadblock, or excuse if you will. This year I made a resolution to make it happen so that I publish a book while my child is still a child and not when she's all grown up”, she said.
The book follows a conversation between a nephew and his Uncle Ed who shares his thoughts on the five senses: smelling, tasting, touching, hearing and seeing.
Uncle Ed is a not a perfect grey wolf but shares his wisdom his little nephew reminding him to slow down, become more aware of his surroundings and simply appreciate life and enjoy the little things.

“Uncle Ed is a collective character” Regina said, “he does however have some features inspired by my French husband. For example, for the cover of the book I had my husband pose for me in the chair. Some of the scenes in the book were inspired by the beach of Kinsale and ideas came from my 10-year old daughter.”
So far, feedback on the book has been positive, the author said “We offered a copy of the book to my daughter's teacher. She read it out loud to the class. When she was mid-way through the book, she got pulled aside. When she got back and wanted to move on with other class activities, the kids asked to finish reading the book to them. They all laughed at the part when uncle Ed says he doesn't eat vegetables and prefers his fruit in the form of wine but still encourages the little nephew to stay healthy in a less prescriptive way.”
This book is good for both kids and adults: it has wit, humour, a bit of nostalgia and gorgeous hand-painted illustrations. This would be a perfect addition to a family library.
"Things I learned from my uncle" that is available in the Carrigaline Bookshop, Bookstór and Prim's in Kinsale and Leaf and Bower in Ballincollig, as well as Amazon.
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