What questions should I ask my grandparents?

Specific questions wake up specific memories.

The best questions to ask grandparents are open questions about specific moments — not "what was it like back then?" but "what was your first day of school like?" or "how did you two meet?". Specific questions trigger specific memories, and those are what bring a life story to life. Below you'll find 20 questions grouped by theme, plus a simple way to keep the answers before they're lost.

Questions about childhood

• Where did you live as a child, and what did your room look like?
• What was your favourite toy or game?
• Were you allowed to play out in the street?
• What did Sunday dinner look like at home?
• Who was your best friend?

Questions about youth and first love

• How did you meet grandma/grandpa?
• What was the first money you earned, and what did you spend it on?
• What music did you listen to as a teenager?
• When did you get your first car or bike?
• What did you dream about at twenty?

Questions about work and family

• What did your first day at work feel like?
• Which job meant the most to you, and why?
• What was it like when your first child arrived?
• Was there a move that changed everything?
• What was your proudest moment?

Questions about life experience and wisdom

• What was the hardest moment in your life, and how did you get through it?
• Which decision shaped your life the most?
• What gave you strength when things were bad?
• What would you tell your twenty-year-old self?
• What do you want your grandchildren to know about you?

How to keep the answers before they're lost

You don't need equipment for a good conversation — a pen and paper or the voice memo on your phone is enough. What matters is that you ask follow-ups and capture the details. If you want to make more of the answers than a note, Memolio turns them into an illustrated book about your grandparents' life: you share what you learned, upload a few photos, and every page shows a real memory. The illustrations are painted by AI, but the story is deeply human — Memolio invents nothing, so what wasn't told doesn't end up in the book.

Frequently Asked Questions

What questions should you definitely ask grandparents?

Definitely ask the ones whose answers nobody else will know: how they met, what childhood looked like, and which moment shaped their life. Specific questions about single moments work better than a general "what was it like back then?".

How do I start a conversation with my grandparents?

The easiest start is a photo or a specific object — an old picture instantly triggers a memory. Ask for details and allow pauses; often the best story only comes after a follow-up question.

How do I best capture the answers?

Best is the voice memo on your phone, so you don't have to write while listening. From the recordings or notes you can later have a book made — Memolio turns them into an illustrated book about their life.

From what age can grandchildren interview their grandparents?

Grandchildren can ask at any age — even small children often ask the best, most honest questions. With young kids, an adult helps capture the answers.

What Memolio does differently

Most personalised grandparent books — Hooray Heroes, Wonderbly, Librio, Letterfest — drop the grandparent's name and a lookalike character into a fixed, made-up story. Memolio is the opposite: it puts their real story in the book. The illustrations are painted by AI, but the narrative is deeply human — built from the real photos and memories you share, and you approve every page before anything prints.