Children’s book author Andrew Daddo knows how to tell a great story: read on

Former actor turned children’s author Andrew Daddo on good old fashioned fun and why life’s a beach.

Affable, cheeky children’s author, presenter and podcaster Andrew Daddo is quick to laugh and tells a great story, as you might expect of the best-selling larrikin with 30 books under his belt.
“I remember the first sandworm I caught,” Daddo says. “My daughter and her boyfriend are walking past down at the beach, I’ve got this thing and they just hold themselves in the sand. I lost my concentration and I lost it, and I’ve done this Sylvester Stallone thing in the sand, looking up going, ‘Nooo, nooo’ and my daughter’s like, ‘Um, what are you doing, Dad’?”
It’s a funny hobby – just one of many – and his longtime family home suggests doing cool stuff is in the blood.
Stylistically, Daddo says the warm, lively interior “is a collective, it’s not a dictatorship. Everyone’s got their little pieces everywhere, from my mother, who’s very creative, art from my brother, there’s Jacquie’s touches and mine, and group things that we’ve agreed on.”
Like the outdoor surfboard shower and putting green – which the mad keen golfer insists was “genuinely Jacquie’s idea”.
Daddo writes at the kitchen bench, the table and “Wherever I go,” he says. “When it’s on, it’s on – and when it’s off, it’s definitely off (and) I’m on the golf course.”
A Spong & Co hand coffee grinder in the garage gets him going. “As a writer, you’re always looking for ways to procrastinate; that one’s good fun,” he laughs.

Children's author and TV presenter Andrew Daddo with his classic 1967 HR Holden wagon. Picture: John Appleyard

Who Andrew Daddo
Where Sydney’s Northern Beaches. We’ve been here maybe 15 years. I live with my family. My wife Jacquie and three kids, Felix, 23, Anouk, 21, Jasper, 19 – and Peg, who’s giving me side-eye right now. She’s a hound.
Favourite space There’s one main living area, so when we all come together, it’s into one place.
Home means Everything. Home is literally everything. It’s where I’d rather be most of the time. It’s fun, it’s a safe place.

ANDREW DADDO’S FAVOURITE THINGS

Andrew and his son Felix make their own surfboards. Picture: John Appleyard

Surfboard
It’s a homemade surfboard that Felix made. Pretty much all our surfboards are homemade, we shape them and glass them here.We used to – we haven’t done for a long time. It was one of those father-son things. So you shape them and glass them and they go better than anything because you made ‘em. It’s an original FD design.

An oil painting by Andrew’s twin brother Jamie Daddo. Picture: John Appleyard

Oil painting

It’s a painting by my twin brother Jamie. It’s a beautiful beach volleyball painting from a Christmas in Melbourne. But whenever we go down to the beach in Manly, there’s always someone playing beach volleyball, so it’s a beautiful family picture, but it also reflects quite well where we are. I love it.

A macrame piece made by Andrew's mother Bronwyn. Picture: John Appleyard

Macrame wall hanging

Made by my mum, who is Grandma’s Guide to Happiness. I started writing it with her, actually. It’s some ceramic things she’s made, other flotsam and jetsam she’s picked up off the beach. There’s a petrified kid’s thong on there as well. It’s actually amazing. There’s a fishing net, a fishing lure, shells and some fish that she’s made. She’s made flying ducks that we’ve got on the wall outside, all sorts of things. She’s really genuinely, genuinely clever.

His golf clubs. Picture: John Appleyard

Golf clubs

It’s a vintage bag. I’m a big believer in recycling, not throwing away history but remembering history and utilising it. The clubs themselves are from 1996. There’s two homemade wedges and a homemade wooden putter. Some bloke at the golf club said, ‘Mate, that’s illegal’. I do a podcast called Golf, so I’m going through the process of finding out how legal or illegal it is.

Daddo’s new book, Grandma's Guide to Happiness, illustrated by Stephen Michael King. Picture: John Appleyard

Grandma’s guide to happiness

It’s the new picture book for two to four-year-olds, remembering the grandmother’s role in, ‘Let’s make daisy chains’ or ‘Let’s run down the hill as fast as we can’ or ‘Let’s play in the mud’. Gumboots are the shoe of happiness. It’s simple, old fashioned stuff – that’s what it’s a celebration of. Get messy, squish (stuff) between your toes – how good is it running down a hill so fast that you fall over?

Andrew's HR Holden wagon (1967). Picture: John Appleyard

HR Holden

It’s a ‘66 Holden. Interestingly, it brings up memories for other people. When I’m out in it, other people come up and go, ‘Ah mate, I had one of them. What year is it?’ And off they go with their own story. It’s one of the things I really love about it because it’s storytelling and story-sharing – good stuff.

Homemade Keg backyard fire pit. Picture: John Appleyard

Keg BBQ

It’s a beer keg that I cut in half and put legs on. It sits in the middle of the backyard, just far enough away from us and the bench area so we can cook up a big fire and when that dies down, you’ve got your coals that are great for barbecuing, so it’s good fun.

Fishing rod and pliers. Picture: John Appleyard

Fishing rod and needle-nosed pliers

During Covid I taught myself how to catch sandworms on the beach, so I catch worms then catch whiting and bream, which is great fun. I always liked fishing, but to catch sandworms is a dark art. I’m a C grader. I’m terrible at it. They’re really, really fast. The cool guys do it with just fingers, no pliers. I’ll work on it.

Originally published as Children’s book author Andrew Daddo knows how to tell a great story: read on