Grabbling — A Children's Book by Austin L. Church

Grabbling is a story about being brave, and knowing when you’ve had enough.

One day, a Tennessee girl named Jeannie goes fishing with her daddy. They take no poles or nets but instead use only their hands. When Jeannie reaches underneath a rock, she feels something that is alive, something that is NOT a fish.

The story spans 32 pages of lush, colorful illustrations that take you into the world of Jeannie, her dad Julian, and another character who doesn’t show up until the very end.

Grabbling is a true story.

Something that happened to her when she was a little girl, growing up on a farm in Fayetteville, Tennessee.

Grabbling is my first children’s book.

I always loved this story because it has all the things children love: animals and adventure and family and a fun (and unnerving) surprise at the end.

What inspired me to pick up this project again was two children, my daughter Salem and my son Theo. These two crazy, lovely little people are growing too quickly. I want to finish Grabbling while my kids are young enough to enjoy it.

The children in your life will love this story.

I’d love for your children, your nieces and nephews, all of the rambunctious munchkins in your life, to go on a small adventure with Jeannie and to get the shiver at the end of the story that I always felt.

Grabbling is a full color 11”x9” hardcover children’s book.