The Curious Garden w/ Jr. Review

The Curious Garden is a delightful, summery book that takes the reader on a journey of wonder, curiosity and hope. This picture book quickly became a favourite of mine (wildflower-lover that I am), and it captured the imagination and admiration of my children as well. You can even read a mini review written by my 10-year-old daughter at the end of this blog. :)

The story is set in a factory-laden city void of greenery, and we are introduced to this gloomy city on an equally gloomy day. But, in this dreary city lives a boy named, Liam, who quickly drew us in with his adventurous spirit as he looked past the gloom and saw an opportunity for discovery. The rain forgotten, we joined Liam in the finding of a seemingly insignificant patch of struggling wildflowers. Liam refused to walk away from this discovery that was clearly in need of help, and he instead set to tending those flowers and the tiny tree that grew among them. As we read on, the months turn into a year, and we can see how the city has already changed in that short time because of this curious pair - Liam and his garden. Beauty and new life slowly spread across the whole city in wonderful - and sometimes mysterious - ways. The book ends with a look at the city many years after Liam met the wee patch of wildflowers, leaving the reader with a renewed hope for what could be...a lesson not overtly taught, yet inwardly felt.

In considering the illustrations done by the author/illustrator, Peter Brown, we first note that the image on the cover is whimsical and inviting, and you can't wait to open the book to see what that tree-perched little boy has been up to. Similarly, beautiful illustrations continue throughout the book, even sometimes taking up full spreads, replacing written text with images that are like essays in and of themselves. A picture truly is worth a thousand words, and the kiddos and I sat with the book open at those pages for a little while each time, discussing the juxtapositions and changes.

Besides the beautiful illustrations in this book, and the absolutely wonderful storyline, my very favourite thing about The Curious Garden is Brown's clever use of personification. We read how the flowers feel and their personal desires concerning their future. In fact, Liam and this garden are equals as explorers, friends even. Such a fun perspective!

And do be sure to read the Author's Note at the end of the book. Turns out that Brown was inspired to write this story because of an actual abandoned railway in New York that is now a lush, green walking path. We looked up a few photos of it on Google to discover it for ourselves.

Reviewed with permission from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown

Published in 2009

Jr. Review:

The Curious Garden is about when there are dark things, you can always make them light.

One very rainy day, in a very gloomy town, a little boy named Liam found a small wildflower garden in need of help. So, Liam helped the garden by watering it and pruning its tree, and the garden grew and spread across the town. Soon, some other things sprouted up and the garden grew even larger.

~ Reviewed by Smudgy, 10 years old