Hop, Skip, Jump! by Mary Giammona, MD
Join in on the adventure with a grandmother and her granddaughter as they spend the day together laughing and imagining, while also getting in a bit of exercise. Hop, Skip, Jump! by Mary Giammona, MD is a fun-loving story that both encourages readers to spend time with family and loved ones, and also expresses the importance of exercise and how to make it more fun. There is something so special about the bond between a grandmother and her grandchild — a bond that Giammona values in both her writing and her own personal life!
In this interview, we talk with the author about how her own grandchildren have shaped her narratives, and how her experience as a pediatrician has influenced her ambition to make exercise child-friendly and fun. Read below to find out more!
Q: What first inspired you to write Hop, Skip, Jump!?
A: When my granddaughter was 2, and we had read all the books I could find about outdoor activity that included hopping and skipping, I decided we still needed another book that described the fun and joy we had doing that, so I wrote one for us, and that became Hop, Skip, Jump!.
Q: Exercise is a major theme in the book. How does your experience as a pediatrician influence your writing?
A: So often kids think of exercise as borrring, and we need to get our kids outside, away from screens. We have such an obesity epidemic among our children, and it wouldn’t be nearly as bad if kids just played outside more, so all of that, along with the fun my grandkids have playing outdoors helped inspire the book, to show exercise is really nothing more than playing outside!
Q: Are the characters or events of your story inspired by adventures with your own grandchildren?
A: Yes, my granddaughter loves to hop, skip and jump; my grandson wasn’t born yet when the book was being written. By the time we were illustrating it, along he came, so he got to be included at the end! And he is in the next book!
Q: What’s something that people may not realize about what goes into writing a children’s book?
A: There’s a lot of care that goes into getting everything just right for the book — not just the illustrations, which definitely took a great deal of time and care, but also even things like where the punctuation goes, so that everything has just the right cadence for the reader, so it comes across effortlessly.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from Hop, Skip, Jump!?
A: I hope readers enjoy sharing this book with their little ones — kids of their own or friends and family. I hope it encourages outdoor play, family time, and imagination. I hope they see how lovely our multicultural communities are, and continue to encourage all children to love the outdoors and be healthy as they hop, skip and jump! And for all grandmas out there, may you be blessed!
Q: Can you share anything about the next installment in the “Having Fun with Grandma” series?
A: It is tentatively called The Swingset at Grandma’s House, and involves a lot of imagination by both a granddaughter and a grandson at Grandma’s house as they play outdoors!
