Where are the grandmas? Jean’s book will tell you
By Lethbridge Herald on August 13, 2025.
Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald
The new children’s picture book by local author Jean McCarthy, “Where Did All the Grandmas Go?” has hit the shelves of Analog Books. McCarthy says her book is inspired by the strong, active women chasing joy on the slopes of Castle Mountain. The story follows a group of children who can’t find their grandmas, only to discover they’re all racing down the mountain.
“This book is a true family collaboration,” says McCarthy. “My grandsons joined me for winter walks to photograph scenery, which I transformed into digital collages resembling watercolour paintings, filled with colourful creatures and familiar landmarks.”
Her grandchildren are the fourth generation of McCarthys to ski at Castle Mountain, making this project deeply personal and rooted in local tradition.
“We started the year my youngest son was born. As a young mom, I was out there with my husband and three little boys and seeing all this generations skiing together and thinking that is the kind of grandma I want to be.”
McCarthy says she was seeing women in their 60s, 70s and 80s skiing and thought that was amazing. Now that she is the grandma skiing with her grandchildren, she considers it to a treasure to do with different generations.
“I was having my morning coffee at Castle Mountain and watching the sunrise one day and there is a phenomenon there called cold smoke, which is when a little whirlwind of snow at the top of the mountain spins up in the air and looks like smoke, and I thought, ‘wouldn’t that be funny if that was a bunch of grannies kicking up a bunch of snow?’”
She says at that point she wrote a poem about grannies skiing and having fun, and their grandkids looking for them. Then she created the artwork to go with it, which turned to the picture book.
“My grandkids got to learn how a book comes together and now that they are elementary aged children, when they see book in their school’s libraries, they now know how a book starts with an idea someone had.”
McCarthy has a degree in English Literature, but pursued a career in business here in Lethbridge. After retiring, she decided to engage in her passion for arts and writing. Now she has eight books under her belt, and often her family is involved in the process.
“Where Did All the Grandmas Go?” is available at Analog Books in Lethbridge and Macleod Living in Fort Macleod, as well as online at jeanmccarthy.ca
McCarthy will showcase her book in person at the marketplace at Castle Mountain’s Huckleberry Festival on Aug. 23, as well as at the Lethbridge’s Word on the Street Festival as a speaker and market vendor on Sept. 20.
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