What is inside
Twelve books, each on one subject. Six are memory books: Your First Car, Working Life and First Jobs, Sport and Games, Hobbies and Pastimes, Travel and First Trips, and 1960s Memories. They are large-print hardcovers, 8.5 x 11 inches, one prompt or activity to a page. Five are memoir journals: Dad, Start at the Beginning; The Work of a Lifetime; The Roads I Remember; The Records I Kept; and Growing Up Beside My Brother. They are 6 x 9 paperbacks, one question to a page. The twelfth is Conversations With Dad at Christmas, a hardcover keepsake journal with 160 Christmas prompts, one to a page. Prices run from A$54.95 to A$99.95.
Who gives it, and why
Usually a son or daughter, for Father's Day, a birthday, Christmas or a retirement, when Dad has said he does not need anything. Fathers are famously hard to interview. A book with one question to a page gets around that: he answers at the kitchen table in ten minutes, or you sit with him and write while he talks. The Work of a Lifetime suits a retirement. Growing Up Beside My Brother is for the man whose version of the family story has always been the short one. Conversations With Dad at Christmas is for a family that gathers once a year and wants the stories told before the table is cleared.
How it is made
Every book is printed to order, published under our Sovereign Publishing imprint. The memory books and the Christmas journal are hardcover, case wrap, with a matte cover. The memoir journals are perfect-bound paperbacks. Shipping is free on every order, within Australia and internationally, with no minimum order value. Hardcovers take approximately four weeks to arrive and paperbacks approximately 10 to 12 business days, so for a gift our shipping policy recommends ordering hardcovers around six weeks ahead and paperbacks around three.
How to choose
Are these books large print?
The six memory books are large print, in a hardcover 8.5 x 11 inch format. The five memoir journals are 6 x 9 paperbacks and Conversations With Dad at Christmas is a hardcover; neither is marked as large print.
Can Dad write in it with a pen?
Yes. They are made to be written in. Each page carries one prompt or question with the rest of the page left for the answer, on uncoated paper.
Will it arrive in time for Father's Day?
Everything is made to order. Hardcover books take approximately four weeks; paperback journals approximately 10 to 12 business days. Delivery times are estimates and may be longer for remote destinations or during busy periods, particularly November and December. For a gift, order hardcovers around six weeks ahead and paperbacks around three.
Do you post outside Australia?
Yes. Shipping is free on every order, within Australia and internationally, with no minimum order value.
What if Dad says he has nothing to tell?
Choose a book on one narrow subject rather than a whole life: Your First Car, Sport and Games, or Hobbies and Pastimes. One question about a car he owned at nineteen is easier to answer than "tell me your story", and the rest follows.
Can I return it if it is not right?
Books are printed individually for each order, so we do not accept returns for change of mind. If a book arrives damaged, defective, misbound, misprinted or with missing pages, email us within 30 days of delivery with your order number and clear photos and, where applicable, we will arrange a replacement or refund at no cost to you.
