Octoboy and the Grilles: Kids Say the Darndest Things for the Digital Age

In 2009, at the tender age of fifty-one, author Pete Brown was thrust into a new phase of his life: Papa-hood. As a singer-songwriter and a rock and roll kind of guy, he wasn't interested in being called Grandpa and would actually have preferred to go by Pete. But Papa was what he and his family finally settled on.

He and his wife, Roni, often cared for their six grandchildren, but Pete has always had a special bond with his sole grandson, Norbie. His nickname, OctoBoy, came about because fr...