This grandma and grandpa rock: Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo on their ‘good-feeling’ debut children’s book

Pat Benatar and her husband and musical partner Neil Giraldo have written their first children’s book, My Grandma and Grandpa Rock!, which Pat tells ABC Audio was inspired by their eldest granddaughter Stevie Williams‘ questions about their unusual jobs.

“She was asking us, like, ‘Do you think so-and-so’s grandma sings on stage, and what does she sing?’ … and then she said, ‘Does so-and-so’s grandpa play guitar or drums or something?'” Pat recalls.

“She’s asking all about, do they have tattoos [like us] and what kind do they have? And I said, ‘No … this is just what Papa and I do for a living, but grandparents have lots of other jobs’ … so we started this whole discussion.”

The book depicts diverse grandparents of all nationalities, from all walks of life, and also features illustrations of Pat, Neil and their three grandchildren, Stevie, Lola and Cash Williams. Neil says that led to some complaints about equal time.

“Before it was done, Lola would say, ‘How come Stevie’s in more pictures than me?'” he laughs, calling the complaints “really cute and really funny.” So, he explains, “We had to make sure that Stevie was in seven pages and Lolita was in seven pages, and Cashish, who can’t talk yet, he had to be in seven pages as well.”

And when the book was done, Pat says, “[Stevie] read it to us because she’s just a terrific reader … She really liked it.”

Neil says he and Pat wrote the “good feeling” book the same way they write songs, adding, “It was fun and it was easy.” And, he notes, people tell him they really enjoy “the inclusiveness of it.”

The experience was “so much fun,” says Pat, that they’re writing three more children’s books.

“As soon as they … read the last line, which is, ‘Their most important job is loving you,’ literally everyone goes, ‘Awww,'” says Pat. “I mean, those are the kinds of things that egg you on to do more.” 

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