Customer Reviews

The Imaginary Garden

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The story is about a grandfather moving into an apartment that does not have a garden. He and his granddaughter decided to paint a garden to place in the balcony. The story goes through what they painted and how they created the garden. THe graphics in the whole book is really pretty. ANd the story of the grandpa and granddaughter is sweet too.

Theo and Poppa just loved sitting in their Adirondack chairs admiring the flowers as the sat under the big maple tree. There were all kinds of them and the swirls of color brightened their days together. Even a butterfly and a bumble bee flitted around enjoying them, but something was about to change. Poppa was going to leave his little house and garden and was going to move to an apartment. The new place had a wrought iron fence unlike the picket one and there wasn't a flower to be seen. Only a little old ugly leaf and that wasn't much to look at. There was one thing Poppa and Theo planned and that was their imaginary garden.

Poppa got out his drawing board, paints and brushes and the two of them pulled up their chairs and began drawing. When spring came, they were out on the balcony ready to begin. There was a huge canvas and paints that he bought for them. They were all dressed up with matching garden hats and ready to create their imaginary garden. "Let's put a stone wall at the back of the garden . . . the vines will need to hold onto something as they reach for the sun." They began to draw the garden wall and mixed some "green, some red and some blue" to make brown. The garden was growing, but Poppa had to go away for a while. Would Theo be able to manage the garden on her own?

This was a delightful tale of a special, loving relationship that a child has with her grandfather. The "imaginary" garden was an absolutely ingenious way that their gardening relationship could continue even though her grandfather was no longer in his country home and had to move to an apartment. Children will not only learn a bit about drawing things like flowers, but will also learn about how colors are mixed and how to draw a simple bird. The artwork is whimsical and the flower gardens are vibrant and alive with color. If you don't garden with a young child, you will enjoy this book, but if you do you will be thrilled!

Loved the story, loved the illustrations - colorful, just gorgeous. Don't just read this one, get out the paints and brushes and try painting like Theo and her Poppa do.

This book is very sweet; you can feel the love between Theo and her Poppa. I love how he prepares the garden for her to work on while he is away, and how she adds her own special touches. It's a great story!