The Curious Garden

by Peter Brown

Overview

This New York Times bestselling modern classic explores the perennial topic of environmentalism in an urban world, from the creator of The Wild Robot and Mr. Tiger Goes Wild

One boy's quest for a greener world... one garden at a time.

While out exploring one day, a little boy named Liam discovers a struggling garden and decides to take care of it. As time passes, the garden spreads throughout the dark, gray city, transforming it into a lush, green world.

This is an enchanting tale with environmental themes and breathtaking illustrations that become more vibrant as the garden blooms. Red-headed Liam can also be spotted on every page, adding a clever seek-and-find element to this captivating picture book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316015479
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	04/01/2009
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	17,260
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 11.25(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD840L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Peter Brown is the author and illustrator of many bestselling children's books, including Children Make Terrible Pets, The Curious Garden, and The Wild Robot. He is the recipient of a Caldecott Honor for Creepy Carrots!, two E.B. White Read Aloud Awards, a New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book award, and a Children's Choice Award for Illustrator of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

"A quietly marvelous picture book... Echoing the themes of The Secret Garden, it is an ecological fable, a whimsical tale celebrating perseverance and creativity."—The New York Times

* "A quiet but stirring fable of urban renewal, sure to capture imaginations."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "The art is spectacular and the book might inspire children to engage in small projects to improve their own neighborhoods."—School Library Journal, starred review

From the Publisher

As Liam is walking around the city one day he happens to look up and notices things growing on an old abandoned elevated subway line. Being the curious boy he is, he finds a way up to the tracks and finds that a number of things are growing there. There are weeds, of course, but that just means all kinds of things can grow there. Sure enough, there are some lovely plants growing beside the weeds. Liam takes it upon himself to care for the plants and before long a curious garden takes shape. The garden grows and expands and spills over the trestles to the streets below. City streets become filled with flowers and plants of all kinds. This story is a great one to use with young children who are studying plant life, planting gardens, or ecology. Oddly enough, this book is based on the true story of the famous High Line in New York City. Once an abandoned and ugly eleed line, the High Line was reclaimed and is now a gorgeous garden where people can go to experience a bit of nature in the big city. Like the book, it is a testament to the beauty and strength of nature and how it is everywhere if we choose to look. An informative interview with author/illustrator Peter Brown rounds out this DVD as he discusses how the book came about and how he hopes it will get children thinking about nature in all its forms. This animated DVD narrated by Katherine Kellgren is ideal for classroom use and for children's literature enthusiasts. Running time: 10 minutes. Reviewer: Joan Kindig, Ph.D.

Children's Literature - Joan Kindig

PreS-Gr 3—A curious boy's discovery of a tiny garden in an otherwise gray and dismal city leads to amazing changes for him and for the whole neighborhood in this delightful tale by Peter Brown (Little Brown, 2009). While exploring, Liam finds a few plants struggling to grow on an elevated railroad track. The garden patiently endures his clumsy first attempts at becoming a gardener, and soon grows strong and restless to explore. In winter, Liam reads about gardening and plans for spring, and soon the curious plants start to spread to other parts of the grim, decaying city, causing new gardeners to "pop up" along with the flowers and trees. Brown's acrylic and gouache scenes are cleverly animated and accompanied by a lively musical track. Read-along subtitles are optional. In an interview with the author/illustrator, we learn that Brown was inspired to write this book when he accidentally discovered a lush garden growing amid industrial buildings on Manhattan's abandoned High Line. He hoped children would share his love of nature and be encouraged to find and appreciate the nature in their own neighborhoods. He demonstrates how he sketches and writes simultaneously, then uses acrylics to create the final pictures. The teacher's guide offers many ideas for discussion and related activities. The film's producers, Paul Gagne and Melissa Reilly Ellard, are winners of ALA's 2011 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video! —MaryAnn Karre, Horace Mann Elementary School, Binghamton, NY

School Library Journal